Harper, Machado dominate offseason

NEW YORK >> The World Series was baseball 2018 in a microcosm.

Half the 44 runs scored by the champion Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers came across the plate on home runs. That’s the second-highest percentage in baseball history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, behind only last year’s 57.4 percent.

There were 109 strikeouts and 76 hits, a 1.43 ratio that was the second-highest behind 1.48 in 2012. That followed the first regular season in major league history with more strikeouts than hits and with the lowest overall batting average since 1972 — the year before the start of the designated hitter.

Discussion of possible rule changes to increase action will dominate the offseason, along with speculation about a free agent market that includes Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson, and possibly David Price and Clayton Kershaw if they opt out of their contracts.

“What we try to do is pay attention over the course of the season,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week, “think about what we’ve learned during the postseason and see whether we may need to make some change in response to what we’re seeing.”

Analytics have transformed the sport, from offense-suffocating shifts to shortening starting pitchers’ time on the mound and constantly rotating relievers from

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JAE C. HONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles Dodgers’ Manny Machado stands in the dugout after Game 5 of baseball’s World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday in Los Angeles. The Red Sox won 5-1 to win the series 4 game to 1.