NPR

What's Up With All The Home Runs? MLB Hired Scientists. Here's What They Found Out

A panel of experts studied the issue for months but couldn't come up with much more than ballpark determinations as to why home run rates are spiking.

It's not your imagination. A recent spike in home runs has hit professional baseball.

In 2015, Major League Baseball's home run rate averaged 1.01 per game (it had been 0.86 the year before). In 2016, it grew to 1.16. Last year it was 1.26.

Theories have abounded as to why, many centering on the balls having been altered,

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