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MLB: shutouts in 2014 tie previous record

By Ed Carroll

September 3, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez (34) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
September 3, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez (34) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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If you’ve been paying attention to MLB this season, you might notice that there are a ton of really great pitchers in the league, and offense seems to be in decline, with low scores and shutouts seeming to be a lot more common lately. The lack of offense isn’t a myth, and power especially is down throughout the game. Now, MLB’s stat of the day confirms some of the pitching dominance:

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With the caveat that this time span covers fewer than 20 seasons of data, it’s probably not quite fair to say MLB is back in the deadball era, or pitchers are better than ever (even though people who say these things aren’t quite wrong either).

Common suspects for the offensive decline include (with varying degrees of culpability) increased testing and penalties for performance-enhancing drugs, the rise of “power arms” (pitchers who throw hard and fast) over soft-tossers, and increased acceptance of advanced metrics, including infield shifts, which have led some to call on MLB to ban defensive shifts (which overcompensate on defense for certain hitters known to hit to a certain area of the field), which probably isn’t going to happen.

The correct answer to the offensive decline is likely a combination of all of the mentioned factors, as well as some other issues we fans aren’t privy to as well. With more than a week to go before the regular season ends, it’s certainly possible MLB can get at least one more shutout and pass 2013’s record. Whether that record will stand for a year or for years to come will be a question to be answered by the league in the future, and it will be interesting to see how MLB handles the lack of offense, if it takes any steps at all.

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