Statistical oddities are one of the best parts of baseball and, specifically, MLB.
It’s always fun to learn weird trends and rare occurrences in major league games.
Take, for example, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The D-Backs are a very solid team, fresh off making the World Series last year.
This time, they are off to a 6-7 start so far, but they have remained very competitive in the middle of some injuries and slow starts.
The first inning in particular has been very productive for their offense.
It seems, however, that they have forgotten how to score runs after that, particularly from the fifth inning on.
“The Arizona Diamondbacks have scored 24 runs in the first inning and 22 runs from the fifth inning on,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have scored 24 runs in the first inning and 22 runs from the fifth inning on.
In the first frame, the D-Backs are hitting a cool .465/.513/.873 with a 1.386 OPS.
They really know how to jump on an opposing pitcher early in the game.
However, they have a sub-.800 OPS in six of the remaining eight frames.
It’s not easy to find a team capable of scoring 24 runs in the first inning and three in another specific frame, like they have produced so far in the second and ninth.
Arizona has scored one meager run in the eighth inning this year.
One!
Their OPS in the eighth frame is a putrid .388.
That’s not OBP: it’s OPS.
These situations often solve themselves over time, with a larger sample, but the D-Backs really need to find a way to get things going after the first inning.
Games are much, much longer than that.