Winning a World Series title is not easy. Winning two consecutive titles in this century is extremely hard since no team has done it. Do you think the World Series hangover is real? Maybe we can try to find something at the beginning of the spring.
In 2015, the Royals defeated the Mets to win the first World Series trophy since 1985. However, the Royals posted an OPS of .749 in the 2016 spring training, 23rd in the majors. In the regular season, the Royals only posted an OPS of .712, but their batting average of .261 was 7th in the majors.
At the same time, Royals pitching staff had a 5.02 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP in the spring training. In the regular season, Royals pitchers posted a 4.21 ERA, 17th in the MLB and a 1.35 WHIP, 18th in the MLB. So the Royals pitching staff’s performance ranked more or less the same as they did in the spring training.
The Royals finished .500, 3rd in the AL Central, and missed the playoffs.
The Cubs and the Indians gave baseball fans a truly unforgettable World Series in 2016 and the Cubs won the first World Series champions since 1908. Coming into the 2017 season, the Cubs batters batted .273 in the spring training and posted an OPS of .830. In the regular season, the Cubs batted .255, 16th in the majors. However, their OBP and OPS were top 10 in the league.
In comparison with the Cubs batters, Cubs pitchers did not have a good spring, their ERA, WHIP and BAA were tragic. But, they pitched well in the regular season with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.
The Cubs won the NL Central title in 2017, but lost to the Dodgers in the 2017 NLCS.
Well, the Astros won the 2017 World Series. In the 2018 spring training, Astros batters did get on bases, but their batting average and OPS were in the middle of the league. During the regular season, they ranked 7th in BA, OBP and OPS.
Meanwhile, Astros pitchers were truly dominant in 2018. In the spring training, their ERA was the first in the majors. They led in ERA, WHIP and BAA in the 2018 season.
The Astros won 103 games in 2018 and won the AL West title. Nonetheless, they lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS.
The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers in the Fall Classics to win the 4th World Series in the 21st century. In the 2019 spring training, the Red Sox batters did not hit as well as the previous season. Nevertheless, in the 2019 season, they batted pretty well, finishing top 5 in OPS.
But, the Red Sox pitchers did have problems in 2019. They did not pitch well in the spring training and things did not improve much in the regular season.
The Red Sox finished 3rd in the AL East in 2019 and did not clinch a berth in the postseason.
The Nationals won the first World Series with a dramatic comeback win in Game 7. Coming into the 2020 season, things were so different. Spring training games were suspended in mid-March because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the shortened season, the Nationals pitchers were not solid as expected, posting a 5.09 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. But, the Nationals batters were hitting well, with a .264 batting average. However, the team finished 4th in the NL East.
In the last 5 seasons, three defending World Series champions failed to clinch a spot in the playoffs. A World Series hangover may really exist. Meanwhile, when we looked at their stats in the spring training, if a team did have problems at both hitting and pitching, there may be a warning that a World Series hangover could happen. Of course, spring training is not the regular season. Spring training games allow players to prepare for the new season and MLB teams let players make adjustments and figure out whether a player should be placed on the opening day roster. Nevertheless, it’s still worth reading spring training stats, in particular, when a defending champion is unable to perform.
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