Interesting assertion from Scott here. What do you think? -jbopp

Are certain pitches become more common place in recent years?

Here are the number of players since over the last 10 seasons who were pitched 60% fastballs or more. Other pitches and their percentages follow.

Notice the number of players who saw 60% fastballs has seen a THREEFOLD DROP since 2006. Players who saw more than 15% of their pitches as sliders have steadily increased since 2004.  Curveball percentages saw a drop then an increase the last 3 seasons while changeup percentages have stayed fairly steady throughout.

While the number of players who hit more than 50% of batted balls as groundballs has stayed steady, the number of players who have swung at more than 25% of pitches out of the strikezone has risen 500%!

The bottom line: Pitching overall is getting better.  Batters are getting fooled more than they did just 5 years ago.