More three true outcomes?

We have heard that there are more strikeouts, walks and home runs in today’s baseball games. In baseball, three true outcomes are said to be a home run, a strikeout or a walk. In reality, how often do we see three true outcomes in modern games? I went to check on the baseball reference website and tried to understand a little bit more.

In the early era of baseball, there were a lot of balls in play. Till 1948, three true outcomes had never happened over 20% of all plate appearances. In 1949, three true outcome rate increased to 21.5%. Since then, the rate had remained between 21% and 25% for several years. However, the number increased to 25.2% in 1961. In 1960, there were 16 teams in the MLB and the next year, two teams joined the league. With the expansion of two teams, the number of home runs, walks and strikeouts significantly increased in 1961. In total, there were 2730 home runs, 9897 walks and 14947 strikeouts in 1961. From 1961 to 1970, the three true outcome rates remained over 25%, but didn’t go over 26.5%. Nonetheless, there were some changes between 1971 and 1985. During this period, the number remained below 25%. But, in 1986, the MLB three true outcome percentage went up to 26.6% and it reached 27.1% in 1987. But, in 1988, the number dropped to 24.8%. From 1989 to 1993, three true outcomes normally made up 25%~26% of all plate appearances in a single season. In 1994 and 1995, 948 games were cancelled in the strike. Although there were fewer games, an increase in three true outcomes began. Three true outcome percentage was 27.5% in 1994 and, in 1995, the number was 27.9%. In 1996, Mark McGwire and Brady Anderson each crushed at least 50 home runs. In that season, the number of home runs was 4962, very close to 5000. Moreover, walks and strikeouts were increasing significantly. Since then, three true outcome rates had remained over 28% for several years.  In 2003 and 2005, three true outcome percentages were below 28%. Nevertheless, in the 2006 season, three true outcomes made up 28.1% of all plate appearances. And, three true outcomes have gradually been common in modern baseball games. In 2012, three true outcomes made up more than 30% of all plate appearances, and since then, the number hasn’t gone below 30%. From 2019 to 2021, three true outcomes have been frequently seen and three true outcome rates have been over 35% these three years. In the 2021 season, three true outcomes made up more than 38% of all plate appearances in the Cubs and the Yankees. Additionally, no team finished the season with an under 30% three true outcome rate. However, for the Royals, three true outcomes made up 30.7% of all plate appearances. Moreover, the Royals had 124 stolen bases, most among 30 MLB teams. It could be interesting to see whether the Royals play baseball games in a very different way in 2022.