The surge of no-hitters and MLB's increasing strikeout rate is making for "a game that sometimes is unwatchable" and speaks to a larger problem in baseball, Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Thursday.
"It's great for your team when a guy throws a no-no, it's great for that guy. It's a great accomplishment," Mattingly told reporters after his team's 6-0 win over Philadelphia. "But when there's so many, so early — you know, strikeouts are at an all-time high — it tells you there are some issues within the game that need to be addressed.
"... It's been coming and it's been building, and now we're at a point where I think it's getting so much more attention because it's just a game that sometimes is unwatchable. You see guys you talk to and they don't even like watching games because there's nothing that goes on in them."
The Tigers' Spencer Turnbull and the Yankees' Corey Kluber twirled no-hitters on back-to-back days Tuesday and Wednesday. That marked four no-hitters in 15 days and six this season — not counting a seven-inning no-no from Arizona's Madison Bumgarner during a doubleheader. The record for no-hitters in an MLB season is seven.
On Wednesday, Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw said the recent spate of no-hitters is "not good, I'll tell you that."
"No-hitters are cool," he said. "I have all the respect in the world for Corey Kluber and Bum and all those guys that have thrown no-hitters. But to have one happen every night, it seems like it's probably not good for the game. Fans want to see some hits, I get that and some action, and not many people striking out.
"I appreciate the attempt that MLB has tried to do, but I think it seems like they missed the mark so far. We'll see. I don't know."
Mattingly said any changes to address the issues are "going to take a while."
"Because this started 15, 16 years ago with the swing changes and the philosophy changes and the analytics," he said.
bluedsrule on May 21st, 2021 at 16:13 UTC »
Watching a bunch of KBO last year was so refreshing. I don't have the data, but it seemed like there were a lot more balls in play. Meanwhile, this season over 37% of PA in MLB end with the ball not being in play. That's too high, man.
HoracioPeacockThe3rd on May 21st, 2021 at 16:11 UTC »
I haven't seen this discussed much but I can't help but think there's a connection between the current pitching dominance and the open secret of pitchers using pine tar. its like the steroid era in reverse.
floatingtoad on May 21st, 2021 at 15:16 UTC »
Changes to the ball, pitchers using foreign substances and hitters using TTO approach all aid to this.