MLB pitchers threw fewer complete games but dominated batters this year

NEW YORK (AP) — There were a record-low 26 complete games in the major leagues this season — four fewer than Catfish Hunter threw in 1975 — and the big league batting average dropped to .243, among the five-lowest figures since 1900.

Pitchers threw just 16 individual shutouts, matching 2022's total as the least in a non-shortened season since 1874.

Baserunners stole 3,617 bases, the third-most since 1900 after 4,574 in 1914 and 4,108 in 1915. The total was up from 3,503 last year and 2,486 in 2022, the last season before rule changes limited pickoff attempts and enlarged bases to 18-inch squares from 15. The 79% success rate this year was down slightly from 80.2% last year.

The complete game total was fewer than even the 29 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. There were 2,429 games played this year and 898 in 2020, when opening day was delayed until July 23.

Philadelphia's Cristopher Sánchez, Atlanta's Max Fried and Toronto's Kevin Gausman were the only pitchers with two complete games.

The complete game total was down from 35 last year and 36 in 2022. There were 50 in 2021, 104 in 2015, 209 in 2003 and 622 in 1988.

No pitcher threw more than one shutout.

The final batting average of .2433 was higher in the post-1900 era than only .237 in 1968, .239 in 1908, .242 in 1967 and .2427 in 2022. The average rose to .248 last year in the first season of restrictions on defensive shifts. This year's figure was impacted by a .239 average through April, down from .249 last year.

There were just seven qualified .300 hitters, the second-fewest above only the six in 1968. There were 55 in 1999.

Home runs dropped to 1.12 per team per game from 1.21 last year but above the 1.07 in 2022, The high of 1.39 was in 2019. Humidor use for baseball storage expanded from two teams to five in 2020 and was standardized throughout the major leagues in 2022.

Average four-seam fastball velocity was a record 94.3 mph, up from 94.2 mph in 2022, 93.9 mph in 2022 and 93.7 mph in 2021, according to MLB Statcast. It was 91.9 mph when MLB started tracking in 2008.

The total of pitches at 100 mph or higher dropped to 3,321 from a record 3,880 in 2023 and 3,369 in 2022. Oakland's Mason Miller had the most 100 mph pitches with 510, followed by Arizona's Justin Martínez (426), Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase (285) and Minnesota's Jhoan Durán (256).

Among starting pitchers, Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes led with 100, followed by the Los Angeles Angels' José Soriano with 40.

Strikeouts per team per game fell to 8.48 from 8.61 but up from 8.40 in 2022. Walks per team per game dropped to 3.07 from 3.25, just above the 3.06 in 2022.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Ronald Blum, The Associated Press