Quote:
Originally posted by Jurassic Referee
crappy relief pitching was the major consequence of the Balco steroid mess.
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I'd heard this theory when the testing was first proposed, and honestly, I dismissed it out of hand. But I've heard more and more people saying that pitchers use the steroids, not to build strength, but to recover from the damage of the previous night's work. It does seem to make sense, and there do seem to be a lot of relievers whose performance has dropped significantly.
Has it affected pitching
more than hitting? Hard to say, but my favorite stat of the testing-era is that home runs per game this season is at the lowest level since 1995, which is the first year of the big home run boom.