The Astros are hitting .240 as a team. Pretty bad. The league is hitting .239, the second lowest of all time. The lowest ever was back in 1968 at .237. As you may remember, in last year's playoffs there were rampant complaints from the playoff pitchers about 'slick baseballs.' Did the MLB modify the baseballs for the 2018 season?
The league doesn't have a very good track record of transparency on this issue, so it's a very fair question. By the end of the season, we will see how the balance of power between hitters and pitchers goes as the temperatures rise and then fall, but it will be interesting to see the results of any lab tests on the 2018 major league baseballs like the ones they have conducted over the past year.
if they modded them it would be for moon shot home runs and ratings. MLB needs fans in the seats bad.
For reference, the average this time last year was .247, so only .008 difference. I think it has more to do with the crazy cold weather so far this season. We'll see if it has any substance as the year continues, but I think all offense will normalize a bit once it gets warmer.
