As we already knew, the baseball is different once again. As was the case a few years ago, the baseball itself is different this year, and it’s contributing to a significant spike in home runs.
Thankfully, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred dispensed with any half-hearted denials this time around, and yesterday conceded on ESPN Radio that MLB does believe the unnatural spike in home runs this season is attributable, in part, to the reduced drag with the ball. (It’s actually several additional factors, too, but whatever. We’ll take an admission when we can get it.)
Manfred said MLB will continue to evaluate the manufacturing process to try to get it under better control (presumably for next year).
In the meantime, players are growing increasingly outspoken, and Justin Verlander even went so far as to suggest MLB was intentionally trying to make the baseball livelier:
AL All-Star Game starter Justin Verlander called the baseballs used in 2019 games “a f—ing joke” and believes the league wanted a more live baseball to increase offense. News with his perspective and other players’ at ESPN: https://t.co/Jyp2OvCuKN
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 8, 2019
Verlander absolutely going in on the juiced ball is my shit pic.twitter.com/syml6m3t8E
— David Skiba (@SkibaScubaShop) July 8, 2019
I think you could debate whether MLB would want home run rates spiking to quite this extent, but you cannot deny there was a belief that increasing offense could be good for the sport.
Manfred, for his part, denies the change was intentional:
Rob Manfred on some players' belief that MLB intentionally juiced the baseball: “Baseball has done nothing, given no direction, for an alteration of the baseball.”
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 9, 2019
The question I have is whether increasing home runs is the way you want to go about increasing offense. Some charts from Jared Diamond to consider:
The story of the 2019 baseball season so far can be distilled to two short words: home runs.
Home runs are what made baseball America's pastime. They're what carried baseball through the strike.
Now home runs are the cause of baseball's latest crisis.https://t.co/uIW2ySr43T pic.twitter.com/XWTgGq8Now
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) July 8, 2019
2019 baseball, in one helpful infographic. https://t.co/uIW2ySr43T pic.twitter.com/b8vYjGV5Ji
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) July 8, 2019
From my perspective, the risk in allowing home run rates to climb TOO much is that the excitement associated with home runs will not only flatline, but might decrease. Fans could go from “woo, another homer!” to “OK, fine, a home run is normal now” to “oh, good God, another homer …. “