We reached the half-way point of the season in terms of weeks, and week 13 proved to be the second lowest scoring week of the year. The 2015 remains behind the 2014 season at the same point, with 2015 producing 8.22 runs per game so far, 2014 coming in at 8.28 runs per game through 13 weeks.
As has been the case all season, 2015 beats 2014 handily in home runs, but falls short in walks and other hits to the point that only 23.5 batters reach per game versus 23.9 batters at the same point in 2014. With strikeouts also down over the same periods (15.5 per game in 2014, 15.1 per game in 2015) that means that BABIP is down as well. It could be defensive shifts, players getting better at defense, or pitchers inducing poor contact. I find it strange that for the second year in a row, offense is going into a slump in the summer. Hotter weather is supposed to help hitters, but the five weeks with scoring below eight runs a game happened in the last seven weeks.
BABIP down less than 1%, from 299 to 297, but hard hit balls are also down 2% from 29.1 to 28.5
pft » So players are trading strikeouts for poorer contact. That’s exactly why strikeouts keep going up over time. The trade off does not help hitters. Hitting the ball hard appears to be somewhat more important than just putting it in play.