With the MLB and MLBPA still working to finalize a deal to begin the 2020 MLB season, SI's Tom Verducci looks back at the 1981 season, which was delayed by a strike, to juxtapose the 2020 season and how it could be played differently than previous years.

If Major League Baseball returns in 2020, what might the actual style of the games look like? Well, for clues, you might want to go back to 1981 when baseball returned in August after missing two months because of the players strike. Back then, offense went up just slightly in August. But that's not really applicable, because in 1981, in August, rosters remained at 25 per team. There was no expansion of the rosters. 

This time around, owners and players are talking about 30-man rosters with 15-man pitching staffs. So the most apt analogy is probably September, when rosters expand. Last year in September, the average number of pitching changes made per team per game increased from 3.2 to 4.1. And the Major League batting average decreased from .254 to .244 in September. Fifteen-man pitching staffs? You're probably looking at more pitching changes and less offense.