13 stats to sum up the ’18 MLB season
While Major League Baseball needed an extra day to wrap up the regular season and crown two division titles, it saw many new trends play out.
From swinging-and-missing to hitting the long ball, here are 13 statistics that sum up the exciting 2018 season:
.168 — Batting average for Orioles slugger Chris Davis. It’s the lowest average in the majors among qualified hitters since 1920, breaking the record held by Rob Deer (.179 in 1991) and Dan Uggla (.179 in 2013).
.248 — The overall batting average, which dropped seven percentage points from last year, the lowest since 1972.
3 — Teams losing at least 100 games (Orioles, White Sox, Royals)
3:00 — The average time of a nine-inning game, which dropped from a record 3:05 last year.
4.2 — The percent decrease in the average crowd of a home game from 2017.
5.38 — Innings per starting pitcher, dropping from 5.89 in 2012, according to Sports Info Solutions.
24 — Consecutive quality starts by Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who posted an astounding 1.70 ERA ... and won just 10 games. His ERA is the lowest for a Mets starting pitcher since Dwight Gooden (1.53) in his Cy Young-winning 1985 season.
30 — Straight days the Cubs played a game to make up games, from Aug. 20. to Sept. 20. They went Detroit-to-Chicago-to-Atlanta-to-Philadelphia-toMilwaukee-to D.C.-to-Chicago-to-D.C.to-Chicago-to-Phoenix and back to Chicago.
54 — Postponements, the most since 58 in 1989.
61 — Games behind the Orioles finished to the Red Sox in the AL East. Baltimore lost a franchise-record 115 games.
188 — More strikeouts than hits. This is the first season with more strikeouts than hits.
267 — Home runs by the Yankees, breaking the single-season record held by the 1997 Mariners.
41,207 — Strikeouts, year’s 40,104. topping last