Has the way runs are scored in MLB changed?

At the conclusion of last year's (2025) regular season, I noticed something surprising regarding the players who led their respective leagues in Runs Batted In (RBIs).

In the National League, the RBI leader was Kyle Schwarber, who also topped the league in home runs. While this fact didn't seem odd, I was surprised to find his batting average ranked extremely low—60th in the league. Meanwhile, the American League RBI leader was Cal Raleigh—who also led the league in home runs—and his batting average was also quite low, ranking 44th. Surprised by the results for these two players, I wondered: "Has there ever been a season in the long history of Major League Baseball where the RBI leaders from both leagues ranked so low in batting average?"

This prompted me to investigate the home run and batting average rankings of every player who has led the league in RBIs throughout history.

Before presenting those results, let me list the players who led the league in RBIs four or more times between 1901—the start of the modern Major League era—and 2025.

Babe Ruth (6 times) 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1926, 1928

Honus Wagner (5 times) 1901, 1902, 1908, 1909, 1912

Lou Gehrig (5 times) 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934

Ty Cobb (4 times) 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911

Sherry Magee (4 times) 1907, 1910, 1914, 1918

Rogers Hornsby (4 times) 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925

Hank Greenberg (4 times) 1935, 1937, 1940, 1946

Ted Williams (4 times) 1939, 1942, 1947, 1949

Hank Aaron (4 times) 1957, 1960, 1963, 1966

Mike Schmidt (4 times) 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986

A concise but well-written biography of Babe Ruth by Clayton Geoffreys (2020)

Regarding the players listed above, I imagine the names come as no surprise; they feel entirely natural in this context.

Now, let's look at the home run rankings of the RBI leaders.

I examined the home run rankings for every player who led the league in RBIs from 1901 to 2025 and graphed the results.

The horizontal axis represents the home run ranking, while the vertical axis represents the number of RBI-leading players.

As the graph illustrates, there is a clear tendency for RBI leaders to also rank highly in home runs.

Among all historical RBI leaders, the lowest home run ranking belongs to Bill Dahlen, who ranked 19th. Here, I will list all players who led the league in RBIs but ranking 15th or lower in numbers of home runs.

Home Run ranking

Bill Dahlen (1904) 19

Anthony Rendon (2019) 17

Dixie Walker (1945) 16

Hal McRae (1982) 16

Kirby Puckett (1994) 16

Sherry Magee (1918) 15

Regarding the six players mentioned above, my only reaction is "I see," and I feel no particular sense of incongruity or surprise. What do you think?

As a side note, let me list the players who have had three or more seasons where they led the league in both RBIs and home runs.

Babe Ruth (6 times) 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1926, 1928

Mike Schmidt (4 times) 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986

Ted Williams (3 times) 1942, 1947, 1949

Hank Aaron (3 times) 1957, 1963, 1966

A book chronicling the magnificent baseball career of Mike Schmidt by Rob Maaddi (2010, Triumph Books)

My life in pictures by Ted Williams with David Pietrusza (2001, Total Sports Illustrated).

For these four players, the results feel entirely natural to me; there is nothing surprising about them. I imagine you feel the same way—what is your take?

There are only two active players who have had multiple seasons leading the league in both RBIs and home runs.

Nolan Arenado (2 times) 2015, 2016

Aaron Judge (2 times) 2022, 2024

Next, let's look at the batting average rankings of players who led the league in RBIs.

I examined the batting average rankings of every player who led the league in RBIs from 1901 to 2025 and graphed the results.

The horizontal axis represents the batting average ranking, while the vertical axis represents the number of players who led the league in RBIs.

As the graph shows, there is a clear tendency for players who lead the league in RBIs to also rank high in batting average. However, the rankings vary widely—with some players ranking quite low—resulting in a broad horizontal spread that exhibits a so-called "long tail." This is a major difference from the graph ranking the number of home runs.

Here, let me list all the players who led the league in RBIs but ranked 50th or lower in batting average.

Batting average ranking

Cecil Fielder (1992) 63

Ryan Howard (2008) 61

Kyle Schwarber (2025) 60

Vinny Castilla (2004) 55

Andruw Jones (2005) 53

Adam Duvall (2021) 52

Mark McGwire (1999) 51

The seven people mentioned above don't seem out of place to me. What do you all think?

As a side note, let me list all the players who have had multiple seasons leading the league in both RBIs and batting average.

Ty Cobb (4 times) 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911

Rogers Hornsby (4 times) 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925

Nap Lajoie (2 times) 1901, 1904

Honus Wagner (2 times) 1908, 1909

Jimmie Foxx (2 times) 1933, 1938

Ted Williams (2 times) 1942, 1947

An excellent biography of Ty Cobb. "Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty" by Charles Leerhsen (2016, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks)

None of the six people mentioned above feel out of place to me at all. I imagine you all feel the same way—what do you think?

Among active players, there is not a single one who has had even one season leading the league in both RBIs and batting average. Since the start of the 21st century, only two players have had a season where they led the league in both categories, and both achieved this feat only once.

Matt Holliday (2007)

Miguel Cabrera (2012)

Now, while I was researching the data to create the graphs during these analyses, I noticed something I hadn't considered beforehand, and I thought, "Huh? Maybe..."

To verify this, I recreated the two graphs mentioned above, this time dividing them into the 20th century (1901-2000) and the 21st century (2001-2025), rather than 1901-2025.

First, let's look at the home run rankings of the players with the most RBIs.

It is safe to say there is no significant difference in the pattern between the 20th and 21st centuries.

Next, let's look at the batting average rankings.

It's fair to say that the patterns are clearly different between the 20th and 21st centuries. In the 20th century, there was a clear tendency for players with high batting averages to also be the top RBI hitters, but in the 21st century, this tendency is not so clear. Instead, players with the most RBIs tend to be spread out evenly across various batting average rankings. In other words, it might be fair to say that we're entering an era where batting average is irrelevant for players who are leading in RBIs.

What does this difference between the two centuries signify? It may indicate a shift in the style of play—driven by the "fly ball revolution" and the surge in players aiming for home runs—away from "small ball" or the strategy of accumulating runs through base hits with runners in scoring position, and toward a game where runs are primarily generated via home runs. What do you think?

(If I've made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I'll try to make corrections or additions.)