Dodgers: One Key Stat Is Down League Wide This Season

The league is short on long balls.

MLB made a concerted effort this year to reduce the amount of home runs. Their efforts have been largely successful so far. The league introduced humidors to every stadium this season with the intention of cutting down the amount of home runs. It worked and Dodgers fans have noticed that the travel on the baseballs just ain't the same. 

On Monday night, Gavin Lux clubbed a deep fly ball to right center that likely would have been a home run last year. Or as it's known, the pre-humidor era. Instead of going over the fence, Lux's ball landed right in the outfielder's glove at the wall.After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts jokingly called it a conspiracy theory that it wasn't a home run (quote via The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett).

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but something is different.”

Last year, MLB clubs averaged 1.22 home runs per game. This year, that number has had a precipitous drop to 0.90. It's definitely benefited pitchers. Already, we've seen a surprising amount of hurlers sniff no-hitters or perfect games. Including, but not limited to, Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw.

Hitters might need to start adjusting their approach and perhaps, the age of crafting swings around increasing launch angle is over. Roberts however, is not convinced of that quite yet. 

“Maybe next season when there’s more data, and guys who are hitting balls at a certain velocity with that trajectory that are not getting rewarded – they turn into fly-ball outs – then you see an adjustment. But I think that’s going to be a slow drip.”

Through Thursday, the Dodgers 11 home runs rank 14th in the majors. For those doing the math at home, that's less than one per game (0.92) and aligns with the league wide average of 0.99. Last season, the Boys in Blue crushed 237 home runs in 162 games (1.46). In 2019, the team averaged 1.7 per game.

The Dodgers have been one of the many clubs that relies on home runs to generate runs. They might have to adjust their approach, but apparently, that's not going to happen this season.