People quickly point to the new strike zone as the main reason for a drop in runs being scored this season. While the high strike has contributed, here's another factor -- the development of young pitchers around baseball.

The pitching may not be great, but it is better than it has been in recent years because young pitchers are improving and beginning to excel. Two or three years ago, the majors had a bunch of young pitchers who were just throwing and getting knocked around. Now I see pitchers who are throwing better and smarter and are on the verge of being stars.

When I talk about a "young pitcher," I mean one who has less than four years of major-league experience, not a pitcher who is below a certain age. Experience, not age, is what matters. Some pitchers may enter the majors at age 25 or older, but they are still young in terms of experience.

SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL

Yankees at Mets 8 p.m. ET, ESPN Play-by-play: Jon Miller Analyst: Joe Morgan Because Roger Clemens will not pitch at Shea Stadium, what becomes the most interesting subplot of the series? The interesting thing is what George Steinbrenner said, that the Yankees are not getting production their million-dollar players. That brings a critical point: Are they going to blame their new hitting instructor, Gary Denbo? If he is not to blame, then why did they fire Chris Chambliss after last season? Because the Yankees won three straight world championships, I don't understand why they would get rid of anyone - hitting coach, pitching coach, etc. -- who helped win the titles. The status quo seemed pretty good. Steinbrenner may say the hitters have to swing the bat, but then why do the Yankees have coaches? Hitting instructors affect hitters, like pitching coaches affect pitchers. The Yankees are complaining because they are not hitting, yet they fired their hitting instructor. It's easy to say the hitters have to hit, just like a manager who says he gave players the right signs but they have to go execute. But maybe he didn't give them the right signs. If the hitters are responsible, why is the coach getting fired? Whoever made the change - whether it was Brian Cashman or Joe Torre or someone else -- must answer to Steinbrenner. The Yankees and Mets have had their share of difficulties, but nothing could take the luster off the series. The Yankees-Mets matchup is like the Giants against the Dodgers or the Yankees against the Red Sox. One team could be down and the other one up, but it still doesn't matter because everybody's adrenaline will be flowing a little more. A team or player can't peak over an entire 162-game season. But there are special series and times of the season when players get more goose pimples, as if it were the seventh game of the World Series. The Yankees-Mets series is like that. Any game between the two won't be just another game. -- Joe Morgan

Look at the Florida Marlins. They may have three pitchers who are under 25 -- A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny and Ryan Dempster -- but their entire staff is "young" because all five starters have pitched less than four years in the majors, including 31-year-old Chuck Smith.

Overall, the Marlins are making better pitches. A.J. Burnett has had the most success this season, but all of their young pitchers have performed well and should get better. With more experience, they will develop a keener understanding of pitching in the majors to go along with their natural ability.

Like Rich Dubee in Florida, young pitchers need a quality pitching coach who can point them in the right direction. That's why young pitchers, after struggling with one team, blossom with a new team because they are working with a different pitching coach, whose system is better suited for them.

Atlanta's Leo Mazzone is an excellent pitching coach with a demonstrated ability to develop pitchers. Everyone talks about Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz being great, but they have all become better with Mazzone around. And this season the Braves have been getting great pitching from John Burkett. I don't think that is a coincidence.

If you look at the contending teams this season, they each have at least one good young pitcher. The example on Seattle's veteran staff is Freddy Garcia, who is getting better each year and has a chance to be a No. 1 starter. His ERA (4.18) may should high, but it's about wins and losses - and Garcia is 6-1.

The Twins have benefited from having a pair of quality young pitchers in Joe Mays and Eric Milton. I did a game with C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland's 20-year-old rookie. He's a big, strong kid, but he may be more polished than some of the young pitchers because he uses the changeup and likes to change speed. The quicker a pitcher learns to change speeds, the sooner he will move up the ladder and be a star. I expect Sabathia to be around a long time.

The Cubs' Kerry Wood is still gaining experience. Much has been expected of him because he was the Rookie of the Year in 1998, but because he had Tommy John surgery, this is only his third season. Matt Morris of the Cardinals may be in his fourth season, but he also had to bounce back from surgery. Morris is in his third season as a starter and has been a big reason for the Cardinals' success.

Everyone knew from Ben Sheets' Olympic experience that he was a special pitcher. However, the Brewers' rookie was sent to the minor leagues in April after his first two starts in the majors. Sometimes, like in Sheets' case, it does a young pitcher good to be demoted for a while, get his confidence back and then return to the major leagues.

Other quality young pitchers are scattered around the league. One I really like is White Sox left-hander Mark Buerhle, who had a scoreless-inning streak of 24 2/3 innings. I watched him pitch in Detroit on a Saturday before an ESPN Sunday night game and was impressed with the way he handled himself on the mound. A left-hander who can throw strikes will win in the majors, and Buerhle will be a special pitcher.

Two other impressive left-handers I have seen are Anaheim's Scott Schoeneweis and Oakland's Mark Mulder. I liked what I saw from Schoeneweis last week against the Giants, even though he lost 1-0. Mulder has bounced back better after struggling a year ago and hurting his back. This season he has a better fastball to go with his great curveball.

Oakland has two more quality young pitchers in Tim Hudson and Barry Zito. We think of Hudson as a veteran because he won 20 games last year, but this is his third full year. I'm surprised about Zito's season because I thought he would burst out and maybe win 15-20 games this season. When the A's were on the verge of playoff elimination last season, I watched him pitch in Yankee Stadium and liked his makeup. For whatever reason, he hasn't been as consistent this season, but consistency is always a problem with young pitchers.

Two other emerging young pitchers I have seen on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball are Houston's Wade Miller and Detroit's Jeff Weaver. Miller has a bright future and has already had more success than any Astros pitcher at hitter-friendly Enron Field, going 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA. Weaver has a sound philosophy that he wants to pitch inside, but it needs some refinement. Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens pitch inside, but they rarely get hurt on inside pitches. Weaver needs to learn when to pitch inside and when to go outside. He can't just pitch inside all the time.

Although there are other young pitchers I could mention, I have yet to see all of them pitch. But their emergence is good for the game. Baseball needs to move away from the 10-9 scores that look better suited for video games and to move toward games in which one clutch hit means something rather than outhomering the other team.

While home runs are great, the development of young pitchers and the decrease in runs will change the game so that only the home-run hitters are hitting home runs and the singles hitters are hitting singles, instead of everyone trying to hit home runs.

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan is an analyst for ESPN.