When the rest of the baseball world zigs, the Boston Red Sox zag. While other teams are relying heavily on home runs, this team has found success scoring runs in other ways.
Home run rates have reached heights we haven’t seen since the steroid era, rising steadily from 2.6 percent to 3.3 percent over the last decade. No, this isn’t a sign that the majority of players have found ways to circumvent the drug testing policy. Hitters have simply changed their approach.
As the home run totals have drifted upward, so have the strikeout rates.