Back in July, it looked like the National League had finally gotten hold of the American League?s interleague dominance of the past decade. The NL was finally closing the gap. Then, the rest of the season happened.
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Since July 29, the AL has gone 51-34 against the NL. In those 85 games, the AL has outscored the NL by 110 runs and hit .270. The Americans also hit 110 home runs compared to the 84 hit by the Nationals. Oh, and AL pitchers posted a 3.50 ERA compared to the NL?s 4.88. That is just about how it has been for the past 13 seasons. Times are not changing anytime soon.
Why is it that the National League fares so poorly when facing American League competition? You can start with the most obvious reason. The AL pays more for quality players. On Opening Day this season, the average payroll of all American League teams was $145 million; the average National League payroll was $130 million. That may not seem like much of a difference, but collectively AL teams spent $233 million more on players than its counterpart.
Some of that money is spent on quality pitching. In interleague play, AL pitchers outperform NL pitchers. National Leaguers throw fewer strikeouts and give up more home runs. They also allow more stolen bases and throw more wild pitches. The ERA speaks for itself and simply tells us that AL pitching is better than NL pitching.
What about the designated hitter rule? Doesn?t it give the AL a distinct advantage? Maybe. American League teams buy themselves a true hitter while National League teams will use another bat off the bench when they play in an AL ballpark. What if we just factor out the DH and use only position players for comparison purposes?
Consider how NL position players hit when they face NL pitchers. They have a combined batting average of .262. When the same NL position players face AL pitching, their average drops to .256. AL position players also fare worse against better AL pitching (.257) and against pitchers from the NL they hit .265, almost 10 points higher than NL hitters against AL pitchers.
It?s safe to say that the best team in the National League is the Los Angeles Dodgers. With a record of 96-56 as of Thursday, the Dodgers also own the best record in baseball. What if the boys in blue had to play in the American League? Los Angeles is on pace to win 104 games, but playing in the much tougher AL, the Dodgers would likely be a 98- or 99-win team, the MLB scores and odds show how much better the AL is.
The Cleveland Indians, on the other hand, are on pace to win 100 games and end the regular season with the best record in the AL. Playing against inferior competition in the NL, the Indians would likely be a 104- or 105-game winner.
While the AL outplays the NL year after year in interleague play, the only thing that really matters is who wins the World Series. In five of the last seven years, including last year?s Chicago Cubs miracle, the National League has come home with the win. Three of those series have gone the entire seven games. The Anaheim Angels were the last American League team to have to go seven games to beat an NL team (San Francisco).
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Since July 29, the AL has gone 51-34 against the NL. In those 85 games, the AL has outscored the NL by 110 runs and hit .270. The Americans also hit 110 home runs compared to the 84 hit by the Nationals. Oh, and AL pitchers posted a 3.50 ERA compared to the NL?s 4.88. That is just about how it has been for the past 13 seasons. Times are not changing anytime soon.
Why is it that the National League fares so poorly when facing American League competition? You can start with the most obvious reason. The AL pays more for quality players. On Opening Day this season, the average payroll of all American League teams was $145 million; the average National League payroll was $130 million. That may not seem like much of a difference, but collectively AL teams spent $233 million more on players than its counterpart.
Some of that money is spent on quality pitching. In interleague play, AL pitchers outperform NL pitchers. National Leaguers throw fewer strikeouts and give up more home runs. They also allow more stolen bases and throw more wild pitches. The ERA speaks for itself and simply tells us that AL pitching is better than NL pitching.
What about the designated hitter rule? Doesn?t it give the AL a distinct advantage? Maybe. American League teams buy themselves a true hitter while National League teams will use another bat off the bench when they play in an AL ballpark. What if we just factor out the DH and use only position players for comparison purposes?
Consider how NL position players hit when they face NL pitchers. They have a combined batting average of .262. When the same NL position players face AL pitching, their average drops to .256. AL position players also fare worse against better AL pitching (.257) and against pitchers from the NL they hit .265, almost 10 points higher than NL hitters against AL pitchers.
It?s safe to say that the best team in the National League is the Los Angeles Dodgers. With a record of 96-56 as of Thursday, the Dodgers also own the best record in baseball. What if the boys in blue had to play in the American League? Los Angeles is on pace to win 104 games, but playing in the much tougher AL, the Dodgers would likely be a 98- or 99-win team, the MLB scores and odds show how much better the AL is.
The Cleveland Indians, on the other hand, are on pace to win 100 games and end the regular season with the best record in the AL. Playing against inferior competition in the NL, the Indians would likely be a 104- or 105-game winner.
While the AL outplays the NL year after year in interleague play, the only thing that really matters is who wins the World Series. In five of the last seven years, including last year?s Chicago Cubs miracle, the National League has come home with the win. Three of those series have gone the entire seven games. The Anaheim Angels were the last American League team to have to go seven games to beat an NL team (San Francisco).
