The trend is pitching. Pitching defeats hitting. So we are told this season.
As of Tuesday, runs scored has a wide berth among MLB teams.
Blue Jays are first in runs with 462 in 85 GP (5.44/Runs per game). The Astros are second with 388 runs scored.
At the bottom the White Sox at 275 runs in 80 GP (3.44 R/GP). The Mariners are at No. 29 with 283 runs. The White Sox are a full 2 runs behind the Blue Jays in run production.
The mean team, No. 15, is the Brewers at 339 runs.
The high flying, best record Cardinals are 22nd with 326 runs. The Cubs are 24th with 314 runs.
The differential between No. 1 and No. 30 is 368.5 runs scored. Only seven teams surpass that differential: Blue Jays, Astros, Yankees (379), D'backs (374), Orioles (327), A's (372) and Tigers (371).
There is some correlation between runs scored and position in standings is not clear.
Blue Jays (4th in AL East)
Astros (1st AL West)
Yankees (1st AL East)
D'backs (3rd NL West)
Orioles (2nd AL East)
A's (5th AL West)
Tigers (3rd AL Central)
Only one National League team is in top run scorers, which means that the DH does have some impact on AL scoring. But only 2 of the 7 teams (28.5%) are in first place in their division.
Does team ERA leaders shed any light on the runs scored to standings?
The Cardinals led the majors in team ERA at 2.56. The Rockies are in last with 4.88 ERA.
How the run leaders stack up in team ERA:
Blue Jays (23rd)
Astros (10th)
Yankees (20th)
D'backs (26th)
Orioles (12th)
A's (7th)
Tigers (25th)
Four of the seven run leaders (57.1%) are below the 15th club in team ERA. However, the two first place clubs are on either side of the 15th club (10th and 20th) while the best team ERA of top run scorers, the A's, are 7th in team ERA. One would expect the A's to be a lot better than last place in the AL West.
In this analysis, it seems that pitching does seem to tip the balance in favor of clubs who do not score as much as the average team as the No. 1 pitching club, the Cardinals, rank 22nd in run production.
