Every season it seems like there is a new statistic that is all the rage in the MLB.  Sabermetrics have introduced a plethora of new ways to measure a player’s performances.  In 2017 we saw 6,105 home runs hit which, broke the previous record of 5,610 which was set in 2016.  The increase in home run totals have many wondering about the cause.  Some are looking at the baseball itself, while others have noticed that players are starting to swing with more loft and swinging a lot harder to hit the ball in the air and thus over the fence.  MLB Statcast started tracking the Launch Angle along with Exit Velocity to see how it has impacted the home run totals.

What is Launch Angle?

According to MLB.com Launch Angle represents the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player’s bat after being struck.  The degree in which the ball exits the ball determines the type of contact made.  Below is a chart that displays the outcome of a batted ball based off its launch...