Through the month of April, 47 players had homered five or more times including the Cincinnati Reds. That’s ten more players than in 2016 and nearly double the number that was posted in 2015. This outburst, as Tom Verducci briefly touches, can be largely attributed to a new obsession with launch angle and keeping the ball in the air. With this being said, it’s clear that the appetite for big power numbers exists not only with fan bases across the country, but also inside big league clubhouses.
This perspective obviously impacts evaluations and expectations of players and prospects.