The baseball world is buzzing about the home run barrage and offensive explosion of the last two seasons, and there's no doubt it has changed the game. The worst kept secret in MLB last year was that the Dodgers used the 10-day DL to manage a six-man starting rotation. In 2015, starters struck out 7.40 batters per nine innings pitched, and in 2017 that rate jumped to 7.96 strikeouts per nine innings.