MLB's 60-game regular season has come to an end, and while there were slight dips in home run and strikeout average, major statistical trends mostly continued.
Trends
- Hitting: Teams hit 1.28 HRs and struck out 8.67 times per game, both down from last season (1.39 HRs and 8.81 strikeouts) but still the second-highest marks in history. Meanwhile, batting average (.245) was the lowest it's been since 1972 (.244).
- Pitching: Thanks to deeper bullpens and more pitcher injuries, starters averaged fewer than five innings (4.8) for the first time ever. Less experienced arms meant less control, with pitchers hitting more batters (0.46 per game) than any year since 1900.
- Debuts: Opt outs, new roster rules and missed games due to positive tests led to 208 players making their MLB debuts — a staggering number in 60 games, given there were just 261 all of last year.
NL leaders
Hitters
- Average: Juan Soto, WSH (.351); Freddie Freeman, ATL (.341); Marcell Ozuna, ATL (.338)
- HR: Ozuna (18); Fernando Tatís Jr., SD (17); six tied with 16
- RBI: Ozuna (56); Freeman (53); Manny Machado (47)
Pitchers
- ERA: Trevor Bauer, CIN (1.73); Yu Darvish, CHC (2.01); Dinelson Lamet, SD (2.09)
- Wins: Darvish (8); Zach Davies, SD (7); Max Fried, ATL (7)
- Strikeouts: Jacob deGrom, NYM (104); Bauer (100); Aaron Nola, PHI (96)
AL leaders
Hitters
- Average: D.J. LeMahieu, NYY (.364); Tim Anderson, CWS (.322); David Fletcher, LAA (.319)
- HR: Luke Voit, NYY (22); José Abreu, CWS (19); Mike Trout, LAA (17); José Ramírez, CLE (17)
- RBI: Abreu (60); Voit (52); Trout and Ramírez (46)
Pitchers
- ERA: Shane Bieber, CLE (1.63); Dallas Keuchel, CWS (1.99); Chris Bassitt, OAK (2.29)
- Wins: Bieber (8), Cole (7); Marco Gonzales, SEA (7)
- Strikeouts: Bieber (122); Lucas Giolito, CWS (97); Gerrit Cole, NYY (94)
Of note: Bieber is the first pitcher to complete the triple crown (ERA, wins, strikeouts) since Johan Santana in 2006.