Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 9/6/19

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: The Twins broke a record that lasted for less than a year: the most home runs by a team in a single season. While when the Yankees broke it last year it was of the 1997 Mariners, this time it was just the previous year’s high, meaning that one would really need to “adjust” this record for era to see it in context. Which means the best home run hitting teams, basically, were teams with Babe Ruth on them.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Arthur ($): Here’s a whopping stat: “about 35 percent of the attendance decline from 2015 to 2018 is attributable to less competitive baseball games.” This means that tanking, and ultimately pulling teams out of competitive races on purpose, is robbing something like a million fans of wanting to be at the ballpark, which is huge trouble for a game that needs more people in seats.

The Ringer | Michael Baumann: Justin Verlander came to Houston firmly in a Hall of Very Good situation, with a lot to prove before a Hall of Fame bid. Now with yet another no hitter and likely another Cy Young under his belt, the question is not whether he’ll make it, but how high into the inner circle he’ll make it.