NEW YORK (AP) — A .300 hitter has become an endangered species, a victim of increased velocity as 100 mph heaters are no longer rarities. “When I got in the league, I’d still see a lot of guys throwing 89, 91,” Baltimore Orioles All-Star slugger Anthony Santander said.
Not anymore. The major league batting average is on track to finish at .243 or .
244, depending on the final weekend of the season, down from .248 last year. Three of the last four years are among the six lowest batting averages since the end of the Dead Ball Era, joined by 1967, 1968 and 1972.
The minor league average is down, too, to .242 from .249 last year.
Four-seam fastballs have averaged a record 94.3 mph, up 0.1 mph from last season and 91.
9 mph when tracking began in 2008. “Reaction time is a lot less when everybody is throwing harder,” Philadelphia outfielder Nick Castellanos said. “Your intent has to be ready for a certain spot.
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Coming up, when a guy was 89, 91, there was more of a window to see and react.” Just seven qualified batters were on track to hit .300 or better entering the final weekend, one more than the record low in 1968, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
That was down from nine last year, 11 in 2022 and 14 in 2021. There were 34 in 2008 and 55 in 1999 during the Steroids Era. Luis Arraez's .
312 average would be the lowest for an NL batting champion. "You see electric arms all the time,” Mets star Pete Alonso said. “You see guys every day that throw 97, 98, 99.
