Offense didn’t change much in the last week, as the majors scored 8.17 runs per game, very close to the 8.22 runs per game for the year. The gap did narrow with the previous season, as through the same point in time, the majors scored 8.39 runs per game. Strikeouts remain way up from 2013, 15.4 per game versus 15.0 per game last season. Walks are about the same, and there are a few more non-home run hits.

In terms of totals, in four more game there have been 238 fewer runs scored, with 332 fewer home runs hit. So teams are compensating for the lack of home runs, making up some of the difference with other hits. You can sort of see this with Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting fewer home runs than last season, but more doubles. It’s almost as if the ball is not quite carrying as far.

Can you imagine what offense would be like without the epidemic of Tommy John surgery this season? Some very good pitchers went down with arm problems, and yet overall pitching has not suffered this year. Teams seem to be concentrating on developing pitching, not offense right now.