STATS STATS STATS

We've noticed our stats updates have been going down very well with our Facebook fans, so we thought we'd go one further and dedicate a whole blog post to them. WITH A GRAPH. Yes, wishes really can come true!

High-scoring start!

We’ve seen an offensive explosion so far this season with an average of 35.2 runs scored per game. This ranks 2nd only to 2017 (37.0) at this stage of the season and reverses an overall trend that had seen runs per game declining every year since the leagues’ inauguration in 2016.

One-sided games?

Whilst the final-score doesn’t always reflect the eb-and-flow of the game, we’ve seen a marked increase in the average margin of victory to 12.8 runs. The closest game so far was decided by 5 runs and 5 of the 6 games played so far have seen the victor win by 10 or more runs! By comparison, the 2019 season saw a total of 6 games won by a margin of 10+ across the entire season. If sustained, the current average margin of victory would beat the previous high of 10.3 from 2017. But despite the apparent lop-sided nature of the games, none have ended on account of the mercy rule, and 4 teams are tied with a 1-1 record, meaning everyone is still very much in the play-off race!

Home advantage:

The conventional wisdom is that it is preferable to be the home team, allowing you to play for the easy outs whilst in the field knowing you will still have another chance to bat and mount a come-back. Trying to defend a slender lead as the away team is tough as it forces you to make outs at the plate (which are often tougher plays) and adjust your defensive alignment to do so, creating holes and opportunities for hitters elsewhere. However, the first 5 fixtures were all won by teams playing as the ‘visiting’ team. 3 more wins by away teams would mean this is the first season since 2016 where the visitors have won more games than home teams. Of the 81 regular season games played since 2016, 40 have been won by the home team, 39 by visiting teams with 2 draws.

Upcoming milestones:

Both DD’s (387) and Rhinos (391) are closing in on 400 runs scored all-time (Regular Season games). For the Rhinos, if they can score 9 in their next game, they would become the fastest team to reach the 400 run plateaux, doing so in their 21st game, eclipsing the current record of 22 games held by the Hornets. The Lakers and Tigers have both reached that milestone already this season.

The game between the Odd Sox and Lakers on August 3rd will be the 100th game in MKSL history (including post season games)!

The total number of runs scored all-time in Regular Season games stands at 2,376 with the 2,500 milestone highly likely to be reached this season. In fact, we’re on pace to reach it 4 games from now! With 10 games left to play (including the Final) the 3,000 run plateaux might be reached with 313 runs required.