Has .300 become the new .400 in the game today? And why are team batting averages down?

Those are two burning questions facing the game today.

Since Ted Williams did it in 1941, it has becoming more apparent that we may not see a .400 hitter in the game anytime soon.

The Padres’ Tony Gwynn came closest at .394 in 1994. Rod Carew reached .388 in 1977, and George Brett copped a .390 in 1980.

Will we ever see another .400 hitter?

It has been 30 years since Gwynn flirted with it, and the trends don’t indicate it could happen anytime soon, especially with all of the analytics in today’s game.

In this week’s edition of my Behind the Plate column - investigating present and past trends with the Phillies, Yankees, and Mets - I’ll look at the state of the Phillies, Yankees and Mets hitting as well as the overall game.

On the Charts: Through Saturday, only five of the league’s top qualified 25 hitters were hitting over .300: Aaron Judge, Yankees .321; Bobby Witt, Jr. Royals, .333; Vladimir Guerrero, Blue Jays, .320, Yordan Alvarez, Astros, .310; and Marcell Ozuna, Braves, .306. All of them were in the top-10.

Among the Phillies in the mix with Bryce Harper at .290, and Kyle Schwarber at .250. Shohei Ohtani dipped slightly under at .290.

Last season, the league’s top 10 hitters were over .300 with Harper in the 10th spot at .293. Cleveland’s Josh Naylor hit .308, but he didn’t have plate appearances to qualify. Bryson Stott was 22nd at .280 among the top 25 hitters.

Times Were Good and Times Were Bad: Going back to 2000, a .300-plus average was quite common.

From 2000 to 2009, there were nearly 40 players that batted over .300 for the season. However, since the numbers have been on a downward spiral.

From 2010 through 2017, there were 23 hitters over the mark, and it briefly jumped to 25 in 2016 and ’17. From there, the number continually dipped (not counting 2020) from 16 to nine, having the last double digit year being 2023.

Going back 50 years ago, Rod Carew set the pace at .364 followed by Ralph Garr at .353. Rounding out the top five were Mike Hargrove (.323), Al Oliver (.321), and Jorge Orta (.316).

Former Phillies Willie Montanez was 18th (.304), and Dave Cash was 25th (.300). Former Met and recently passed Ed Kranepool also hit .300, but he didn’t have the qualified 502 at-bats.

The next highest double-digit season for 300 hitters was in 1980 when Carew hit .333 and George Brett produced a .319 average. Rounding out the top 15 were Bill Madlock, .314; Dave Parker, .314; Pete Rose, .310; Fred Lynn, .308; Jim Rice, .307; Ken Griffey Sr., .307; Garr, .306; Cecil Cooper, .306; Steve Garvey, .304; Manny Mota, .304; Oliver, .303; Bake McBride, .300; Bob Watson .300.

In 1968, there were only five NL hitters over the .300 mark – Rose .335; Matty Alou .322; Jesus Alou, .317; Alex Johnson, .312; and Curt Flood, .301. Carl Yastrzemski was the lone AL hitter at .301.

Speaking of Garr, he was a pure hitter who hit .306 for his career. Garr posted a .317 average over eight years with the braves and had 137 stolen bases, and he hit .291 over four years with the White Sox.

Phillies On the Mark: If you look back in the Phillies’ hitting annals, Billy Hamilton hit a career .360 back in the 1890s. Most of the top 25 Phillies weren’t modern-day players, but there were a few.

Triple-crown winner Chuck Klein hit a career .326; Riche Ashburn, .311; John Kruk, .309; and Bobby Abreu, .303. Just under the mark were Pete Rose, .291; Dick Allen, .290; Placido Polanco and Lenny Dykstra, .286; Harper, .289; and Garry Maddox, .284.

Take It For the Team: With individual averages dropping over the past two decades, there also has been a plunge in team averages.

Currently, the Padres have the best team average at .264 followed by the Diamondback (.263), Astros (.262), Phillies (.258), and Red Sox (.255). The Yankees are eighth (.249), and the Mets are 12th (.247).

The Mariners and White Sox round out the bottom of the list with a .220 clip.

When you look at some of these numbers, it’s putrid.

Taking It Further: Since 2020, what teams have the highest team average? They may surprise you.

In the top five, it’s the Red Sox (.269), Yankees (.262), Twins (.261), Tigers (.261), and the Rangers (.261). The Phillies have hit to a tune of .255, while the Mets have reached .253.

The always hot-hitting Braves are at .260, and the equally talented Dodgers are at .257.

In contrast, the ’77 Phillies who won 101 games hit .279, and the ’76 club (also 101-game winners) ended at .272.

Big Teams, Big Hitters?: Some of the more renowned championship teams and other from the last 50 years have had some good hitting year and some bad ones.

The 1980 Phillies hit .270, while the 2008 champs managed .255. The Big Red Machine of ’75 had a .271 clip, and the ’76 squad registered .280.

The ’69 Mets amassed .242, while the ‘86 Mets netted .263. In 1970, the 108-win Orioles collectively hit .257, and the ’71 Pirates - a lineup filled with five regulars above .285 with Roberto Clemente at .341 and Manny Sanguillen at .319 – worked together for a .274 average.

Two of the more recent better-hitting clubs were the 1998 Yankees (.288) and the 1999 Texas Rangers (.293).

Back to Reality: With roughly two weeks left in the regular season, the Phillies appear to have the NL East locked up with a healthy eight-game lead entering Sunday’s play. The real question will be finding two reliable starters behind Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

The Mets, though, continue to be the talk of the baseball world with their play, as they should capture one of the NL Wild Card spots. When they were seemingly floundering at 31-37, the Metropolitans are 50-29. Watching them, it has been a true team effort.

The Bronx Bombers should win the AL East, but they are just 45-43 since June 1 when they were a healthy 41-19. They are still trying to figure out the rest of their rotation behind inconsistent Gerrit Cole and also Carlos Rodon.

Final Thought: Kranepool should also be remembered as “Mr. Met,” as he is third on the Mets’ all-time hit list with 1,418 over all of his 18 seasons in New York.

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