The game was grinding. Paul Molitor's wheels were turning.
Two outs, top of seventh, runners on second and third. One of baseball's best hitters, J.D. Martinez, staring down Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger.
Molitor scanned a laminated card full of data from the Twins' analytics department. Each pitcher and opposing batter are assigned a number on a color-coded matchup grid: Green is favorable, yellow neutral, red danger.
With the Twins leading Boston 2-1, Molitor's gut told him to ride Hildenberger. His card supported his instincts. The Twins shifted an extra infielder to the right side. Didn't matter. Martinez whiffed for strike three.
That singular snapshot from a 3-hour, 14-minute game June 19 served as a microcosm of Major League Baseball in 2018: Managers armed with volumes of data, analytics driving defensive shifts, bullpen use, and oh yes, another strikeout.
The Grand Old Game, wired with technological enhancements, looks smarter than ever, but it's wheezing, too. Sophisticated data influence almost every decision, but the results have produced more strikeouts, fewer balls in play and more dead time.
"We are probably in the most dramatic changes in the history of baseball," said former All-Star infielder Harold Reynolds, an analyst for MLB Network.
The burning question is whether this evolution, or revolution, is good for the game. Baseball has taken bold measures to correct itself before, even in the modern era _ lowering the mound 5 inches in 1969, after the "Year of the Pitcher," when Bob Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA; banning steroids in 2005 after Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and others posted astonishing home run totals.
Now, for the first time in history, a season is on pace to finish with more strikeouts than hits. Batting average has plunged to .247, the lowest since 1972, the year before the American League adopted the DH.
Teams are shifting at least three infielders to one side of second base in 17.3 percent of plate appearances, at least 10 times more frequently than they did seven years ago, helping turn a superstar such as the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper into a .214 hitter.
With massive contracts often tied to home runs, hitters have become fascinated with launch angle and less on putting balls in play. The league produced 6,105 home runs last season, which obliterated the previous record of 5,693 set in 2000 during MLB's steroid era.
Teams use an average of 4.23 pitchers per game, a league record, up from 2.75 three decades ago. That means less work for starting pitchers and an endless parade of relievers.
In a relentless pursuit of strikeouts, teams are vacuuming action right from the game. The average time between balls put in play this year stands at 3 minutes, 45 seconds, according to Sports Illustrated. That's 41 more seconds of repeated inactivity than in 1998.
"There's a couple of big things that are certainly eye-popping," former Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "Strikeouts are somewhat accepted, bullpen usage and starters only pitching five innings."
League officials continue searching for ways to speed up the pace, with the average length of a nine-inning game at an even 3 hours entering Saturday.
Perhaps not coincidentally, attendance is on track for its lowest level since 2003. More than 4,100 fewer fans are attending games on average than 10 years ago.
