More speculation on the disappearance of power in the AL. I've hit upon this for a couple weeks or so, and here is some more speculation in the context of Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Bridle's article.

What kind of players would make-up a team's bench if it only had 12 or 13 spots for hitters? A back-up catcher and back-up infielder would be musts. These are typically punchless. One would also expect a back-up outfielder and back-up cornerman.

Unless the starting nine were ironmen, one would expect these four players, selected by defensive ability, to play as frequently as any other back-ups would. Under the assumption that back-ups chosen for defensive ability are less powerful and the shorter bench leaves no room for a big bopper, then those ABs by the current set of back-ups would be expected to show less power and not necessarily with any change in AVg or BABIP, no?