(2) Fewer Hits, More Home Runs, and No Change in Walks: What's Going On?

The 2018 season is shaping up to be one of the all-time worst in terms of batting average, but in many ways is fundamentally different from all previous seasons with a sub-.250 MLB average. What has changed? Why is there such a noticeable increase in home runs while average and OBP have declined? And if there is a greater emphasis on patience at the plate, why have walk rates stayed essentially the same over all of baseball history? The Baseball Rabbi puts it all together in The Baseball Rabbi Podcast.