My favored theory about the decline in offense is drawn, to some degree, from what we’ve seen in recent years in the postseason, when scouting and specialized in-game decisions are routinely taken to the next level.
Night after night in last year's AL playoffs, the question of whether Max Scherzer or Anibal Sanchez or Justin Verlander or Sonny Gray or Jon Lester might throw a no-hitter seemed open-ended. Yes, the Detroit Tigers had a great rotation in the championship series against Boston, but remember, the Red Sox led the majors in runs scored with a deep lineup in 2013, and in that series against Detroit the Red Sox had 73 strikeouts in 193 at-bats, and hit .202.
Verlander had a great fastball last fall, Sanchez had a nasty changeup, and Scherzer painted. But that type of dominance isn't going to happen without detailed scouting, without pitchers and catchers and managers and coaches knowing how to use the information.
And more and more, the level of detailed information and implementation has climbed during the regular season. Hitters are under siege, because