In the Rob Manfred era, baseball has become a “three true outcome” sport featuring record numbers of homeruns and strikeouts. If you believe Justin Verlander, slicker baseballs leading to “slippery sliders” are a culprit. If you ask the increasing number of pitchers succumbing to blisters, you might conclude that the ball’s seams are different. Whatever it is, baseball is getting less interesting even as its games are sometimes epically compelling (see games 3 and 5 of the World Series).
“Three true outcome” players — hitters who so often either HR, K, or BB — are ok. An entire game of it, however, misses out on so much of what makes baseball great.