Fastball

Five Major League Teams Are Currently on Pace to Do Something That's Only Been Done Once in History

These five major league teams are currently hitting under .195 in the first inning this year. It's only been done once before.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a three run home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning at Rogers Centre on June 6.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a three run home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning at Rogers Centre on June 6. / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
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Five major league teams are currently on pace to join the 1963 New York Mets in embarrassing major league history.

Per @CodifyBaseball:

There are FIVE teams (Athletics, Reds, Nationals, Guardians, Blue Jays) hitting under .195 in the first inning this year.

Only one team (the 1963 Mets) has ever hit below .195 in the first inning for the duration of an unabbreviated regular MLB season.

Unfortunately, this is just the state of offense in current baseball. Opposing pitchers are so good and several teams are content to play with bargain level offensive players, so the whole balance is out of whack.

However, that is not true for every team on this list: The Guardians, for instance, are in first place in the American League Central and have the second-best record in the American League. They can hit, they just don't hit in the first inning, despite having Jose Ramirez hit every first inning.

The Blue Jays are an extremely disappointing team and they currently sit in last place in the American League East, despite the fact that George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr. have historically or do generally get at-bats early in the game.

As for those 1963 New York Mets, they were managed by Casey Stengal and went 51-111. They finished 10th in the National League and played their home games at the legendary Polo Grounds.

There is still plenty of time left in the season, with teams having about 100 games left to play or so, but the fact that these teams are on this list now is still not a good sign.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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