I have a feeling Barry Bonds is shedding some tears right now.

The scenario is complicated. This is a season after a major steroid scandal sent shockwaves through Major League Baseball. This is a season where no one knew what to expect.

Flash back to 1998.

Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were neck-and-neck in hot pursuit of the MLB record for most home runs in a single season. McGwire’s liner over the left field wall at Busch Stadium sealed the deal and gave McGwire 62 homers before Sosa. Roger Maris’ record was no more and McGwire walked away from that season with 70 home runs.

At the time, baseball fans were calling the home run chase the revival of Major League Baseball. They were wrong.

Spring ahead to 2007.

The Mitchell Report had just been released, implicating 89 MLB players in a steroid abuse scandal that would shake the foundation of professional sports. Two players who have since been called out for steroid use were none other than McGwire and Sosa.

The Mitchell Report took too long to unravel and the names leaked out too slow. Had the report come out at once, the effect may have been immediate. It was not, but it seems we may now be seeing the aftermath of one of the biggest stains on the rich tapestry that is the MLB.

Since the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were called out for steroid use, players are starting to look over their shoulders. Of course, pitchers also benefited from illegal performance enhancing drugs. Look no further than Yankee Andy Pettitte, who admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to recover from injury quicker.

In the past, it appeared as though batters have had the edge. It is only the middle of June, but I can say with almost complete certainty that this season is disproving that.

Already this season, Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez has thrown a no-hitter. Oakland’s Dallas Braden and Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay have thrown perfect games. If not for a historically bad call, Detroit’s Armando Galarraga would have a perfect game under his belt as well.

Every week there is a pitcher who flirts with a no-hitter or a perfect game. What has been so uncommon in the entire history of baseball is, this season, something baseball fans are beginning to expect.

Why the sudden dominance of pitchers in the league?

Some would argue that this season is simply a statistical anomaly. Those people would be wrong.

Although there is no scientific proof that fewer players are taking steroids now than in the past, is it hard to believe that is the case considering how many players have been scrutinized and made pariahs on the biggest stage of the game?

According to an ESPN special report, “Anabolic steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity.”

They do, however, build muscle (leading to increased power-hitting numbers in baseball) and have even been said to increase hitters’ ability to see the baseball.

It is no secret home run numbers have increased in recent years. A lot of that has to do with the size of new baseball stadiums decreasing, but it also has to do with many players using PEDs and the effect that usage has on other players’ desires to keep up with the cheaters or find a new profession.

Would it be correct to assume we are seeing a decline in offensive production due to a decline in steroid use amongst MLB batters?

The pitching performances we are seeing this year certainly suggest that assumption is absolutely correct.

This is the year of the pitcher.

As long as Major League Baseball continues to crack down on PED use, pitchers are going to continue to be more dominant than in years past. Many hitters are losing the edge in the battle for dominance on the diamond.

While Alex Rodriguez is off to the worst home run-hitting start of his career, Roy Halladay is dominating the entire league.

If the absence of home runs is somehow marking the end of the aptly named “Steroid Era” of baseball, I welcome the change with open arms.

I think Halladay, Braden and Galarraga would agree.