Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas is skeptical about the amount of home runs players have been hitting this April, so much so that he took to Twitter to make a bold accusation:
[tweet https://twitter.com/TheBigHurt_35/status/453870635559571457 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/TheBigHurt_35/status/453872342695833600 align=’center’%5D
The only problem is that Thomas’ math is wrong. Players throughout Major League Baseball aren’t hitting any more home runs this April than in any other season. In fact, they’re hitting fewer. Much fewer.
Through Tuesday, MLB hitters had knocked 195 balls out of the park in 7,823 at-bats. Compare that to last season’s 250 homers in 7,810 at-bats, and you have a very significant drop. Home runs are being hit at the lowest rate in five years.
The Big Hurt probably was just watching his Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night and reacted to the six home runs the team hit in its 15-3 bludgeoning of the Colorado Rockies. Still, although Thomas was blatantly wrong in his statement, it’s nice to see how much he cares about integrity in baseball.
