The Steroid Era is definitely over. If you think hitting is down in the American League in 2011, you're right; the numbers show it. According to Baseball Reference, the current American League batting average as of April 14th, 2011 is .248
That's the lowest league batting average since 1972, when A.L. batters hit .239. That's also a 12-point drop from the 2010 figure of .260. During the height of the Steroid Era, the A.L. registered figures of .277 in 1996, .276 in 2000, and .275 as recently as 2006.
Other offensive numbers have dropped, but not as noticeably. Home runs per game are only down from 0.97 in 2010 to 0.96 this year. Runs per game are down from 4.45 in 2010 to 4.39 this year (reached a high of 5.39 in 1996). Perhaps in response to the drop in hitting, stolen bases are up from 0.66 per game in 2010 to 0.74 this year as managers scramble to get more out of those batters who get on base. This drop is also reflected in pitching; the league ERA is down to 4.00, the lowest figure since the 3.92 number posted in 1992.
By teams, nine A.L. teams have batting averages of less than .250, and five of those teams are hitting .230 or less at this point of the season. In pitching, seven teams have ERAs of 4.00 or higher, but three teams have ERAs of under 3.00. There were some seasons during the Steroid Era in which no A.L. team had an ERA of under 4.00.
The decline in hitting is not mirrored in the National League. The N.L.'s batting average is currently .258, up from .255 in 2010. The latter figure was the lowest since 1992, which was a down year offensively for all of major league baseball. Stolen bases are up from 0.56 per game in 2010 to 0.71 this year. On the other hand, power is down in the National League, from 0.93 home runs per game in 2010 to 0.85 this year, the lowest since 1992. On the pitching side of the house, league ERA is down slightly to 4.01.
In contrast to the A.L., 13 of the 16 N.L. teams have batting averages of over .250. Four teams are hitting .280 or better. On the pitching side of the house, 10 of the 16 N.L. teams have ERAs of under 4.00, but four teams are over 5.00.
The National League is outhitting the American League even though it's the American League which uses the designated hitter.
Jeremy Lundblad picks up on this trend on ESPN. He notes that while A.L. teams are hitting almost the same at home (.246) as on the road (.247), N.L. teams are substantially better at home (.271) than on the road (.251). He also points out that A.L. teams are hitting .237 at night compared to .256 during the day. And finally, Lundblad reveals an interesting age gap in American League pitching; those who are age 30 or younger combine for a 3.73 ERA, while those older combine for a 5.06 ERA. The American League has received an influx of young pitchers.
As temperatures warm up and pitchers begin to tire, we can expect American League hitting to rebound. But the A.L. is still on track to have its worst hitting season since 1992, at the very least. After the excesses of the Steroid Era, it's good to see some balance back in baseball.
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