HOUSTON—Will Harris found himself in a precarious spot last month, facing Hunter Pence, one of the Texas Rangers’ best hitters, in the seventh inning with the tying run on third base. Harris looked into the dugout, wondering if manager A.J. Hinch wanted to put Pence on first and have him attack the next man instead.

If Harris pitched for any other organization, that would’ve been a reasonable thought. On the Houston Astros, it wasn’t much different than wondering if he should try kicking the next pitch to the plate instead of throwing it.

The Astros haven’t walked a batter intentionally all season and have no intention of changing course now. This might not sound like much more than a quirky curiosity or a useless piece of trivia. But the Astros’ decision to eliminate what has long been considered a valid and beneficial strategy reveals quite a bit about the state of the modern game.

Batters are hitting fewer ground balls, which create the double plays intentional walks are meant to induce. They are launching home runs at a record rate, turning the intentional walk into an invitation to surrender even more runs via the long ball.

It’s why the Astros could become the first team to navigate a full season without issuing an intentional walk since Major League Baseball started recording the stat in 1955. The way things are going, it’s only a matter of time before the intentional walk goes the way of the spitball and the Sunday double-header.