Camden Depot: Matt Wieters HR Hypothesis - Blame Millenial Pitchers' Lack of Self Control

[weams]

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2016/07/matt-wieters-hr-hypothesis-blame.html

I heard about Matt Wieters' hypothesis about why home runs are up to potentially record breaking numbers after years of power decline. His thought was that pitchers were being aggressively promoted as a result of fastball velocity as opposed to being able to master command of their pitches. In other words, pitch locations were wobbling well away from the intended target and getting clobbered. Cynically, this would be an argument a catcher might make to explain why a pitcher is at fault with a focus on pitchers with no seniority.

[weams]

I wonder if he is talking from his own experience?

[LookitsPuck]

I wonder if he is talking from his own experience?

Gausman immediately came to mind.

[pfhokie]

Gausman immediately came to mind.

Wright comes to mind as well.

[Frobby]

My hypothesis: MLB got scared about the drop in HR rate a few years ago, and juiced up the baseballs.

[Can_of_corn]

My hypothesis: MLB got scared about the drop in HR rate a few years ago, and juiced up the baseballs.

I read an interesting hypothesis sometime back. They posited that the emphasis on strike outs and avoiding walks has caused pitchers to live in the strike zone too much.

[El Gordo]

My hypothesis: MLB got scared about the drop in HR rate a few years ago, and juiced up the baseballs.

Wouldn't take much. The perameters for the ball's resilience can differ up to 15'.

[Tony-OH]

My hypothesis: MLB got scared about the drop in HR rate a few years ago, and juiced up the baseballs.

Those balls were definitely juiced in the HR derby!

[ChuckS]

The balls are either juiced.

Or it's an anomaly and homerun numbers will go way down in the second half. I don't think such a jump over one year can be the result of what Matt describes.

[DrungoHazewood]

My hypothesis: MLB got scared about the drop in HR rate a few years ago, and juiced up the baseballs.

Certainly wouldn't be the first time. Or probably not even the 10th.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't think such a jump over one year can be the result of what Matt describes.

The idea that there were sweeping changes in promotion plans and pitcher mentality between 2015 and 2016 seems wildly implausible.

[Ohfan67]

I vaguely remember a time in the past when home runs spiked. Seems like there was a reason back then. Hmmm. Trying to remember. Ouch! Accidently stuck myself with a syringe. Now if I could just remember what happened last time.

[DrungoHazewood]

I vaguely remember a time in the past when home runs spiked. Seems like there was a reason back then. Hmmm. Trying to remember. Ouch! Accidently stuck myself with a syringe. Now if I could just remember what happened last time.

Do you really think that in the 1992-93 offseason hundreds of batters suddenly decided to start taking steroids and heavily working out, and that's the primary reasons homers spiked from about 3000 to about 4000 in one year? Oh, and basically the same thing in 1987, except that they all decided to stop in 1988.

PEDs were always in the background and their use probably spiked in the 1990-2005 era, but to me it seems overwhelmingly likely something like juiced balls have to have driven these year-to-year variations.

[Ohfan67]

Do you really think that in the 1992-93 offseason hundreds of batters suddenly decided to start taking steroids and heavily working out, and that's the primary reasons homers spiked from about 3000 to about 4000 in one year? Oh, and basically the same thing in 1987, except that they all decided to stop in 1988.

PEDs were always in the background and their use probably spiked in the 1990-2005 era, but to me it seems overwhelmingly likely something like juiced balls have to have driven these year-to-year variations.

I was just being silly. My smiley face emoji didn't work correctly, hence the two weird question marks.

[DrungoHazewood]

I was just being silly. My smiley face emoji didn't work correctly, hence the two weird question marks.

Got it.