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Thread: MLB making changes to the baseball,

  1. #31
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Max Scherzer: ‘Who knows’ how the new baseballs will play in 2021
    The baseballs used by MLB players this season are going to be different than the ones used in recent seasons. In an effort to combat the recent spike in home runs, MLB worked with baseball manufacturing company Rawlings to reduce the tension of the ball’s winding. As a result, the ball will weigh slightly less and won’t bounce off bats as well as they have.T

    As much as that might be good news for pitchers, Nationals starter Max Scherzer said on a Zoom call Friday that he doesn’t plan to alter his approach to account for the new ball’s effects.

    “The ball has been changing for me the past five years,” Scherzer said. “So who knows what the ball is gonna be. They say it’s gonna be deader, there’s been times it’s been livelier, who knows. We all are gonna have to deal with it so for me, mistakes are always gonna get hit. Whether it’s a home run or not, you’re still paying for it. You gotta be on top of your game and worry about what you do with the baseball, how you’re delivering the baseball vs. what the nature of the baseball is.”
    https://www.nbcsports.com
    Last edited by Ron Madden; 02-19-2021 at 05:33 PM.


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  3. #32
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell doesn’t believe livelier baseballs have given hitters an advantage, not with so many starters and relievers throwing 95 mph or harder and filling out their repertoires with an assortment of nasty sliders, curveballs, cut-fastballs and changeups.

    If anything, the all-or-nothing approach of so many hitters, who rarely shorten their swings with two strikes, plays right into the pitchers’ hands.

    “I think the game is skewed toward the pitchers right now, and by a lot, actually,” Counsell said. “I think the question is, would I like the game to skew toward more action? And that would be yes.”

    “Until we spend some time with the baseball and really get to know it, we’re not going to be able to answer that question,”
    The Los Angeles Times

  4. #33
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Ever since MLB admitted that it would make changes to the baseballs for the 2021 season, Gerrit Cole — and every other player in the game —has been looking to get his hands on one. Players want to get the feel for the difference in how the ball, which is reported to be less “bouncy” responds.

    “I’ve been trying to get my hands on the balls here. Nobody can tell me if we’re using the real balls from this year’s [batch], or the balls from last year,” Cole said Tuesday. ”Nobody knows the answer yet.”

    Well, it turns out Cole can easily get his hands on one. The Yankees — and the rest of MLB — have the new baseballs to use this spring, according to three industry sources. In fact one MLB source said the Yankees were assured of that when they inquired earlier this spring.

    Cole’s former Astros teammate Justin Verlander accused the league of intentionally juicing the ball for more offense in 2019.

    “It’s a f---ing joke,” said Verlander, an eight-time All-Star who is out this year after Tommy John surgery. “Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you’ve got [commissioner Rob] Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f---ing company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it’s not a guess as to what happened. We all know what happened. Manfred the first time he came in, what’d he say? He said we want more offense. All of a sudden he comes in, the balls are juiced? It’s not a coincidence. We’re not idiots.”
    https://www.nydailynews.com

  5. #34
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    C. Trent Rosecrans
    @ctrent
    #Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said he thinks the ball seems softer this year — balls usually feel different — but they are using the 2021 ball in spring training. "If it flies less, that's cool with me."

    Charlie Goldsmith
    @CharlieG__
    Johnson says he’s heard and believes that the new baseball feels “spongier” and "softer.”

    The biggest thing, he says, is pitchers getting a better feel for the new ball.
    Last edited by Ron Madden; 02-26-2021 at 02:34 PM.

  6. #35
    I wear Elly colored glass WrongVerb's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    I'm suddenly reminded of this for some reason...

    Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)

  7. #36
    The Lineups stink. KronoRed's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Ana Gasteyer is always a delight
    Go Gators!

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    wally post (03-29-2021),WrongVerb (02-26-2021)

  9. #37
    Be the ball Roy Tucker's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by WrongVerb View Post
    I'm suddenly reminded of this for some reason...

    My inner adolescent laughs like a hyena at this.
    She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning

  10. Likes:

    WrongVerb (02-27-2021)

  11. #38
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Scoring and home runs down in spring training with new balls in play

    espn.com

  12. #39
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Madden View Post
    Scoring and home runs down in spring training with new balls in play

    espn.com
    Good. Maybe they will return to a more exciting game with more moving pieces.

  13. #40
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Madden View Post
    Scoring and home runs down in spring training with new balls in play

    espn.com
    Someone should have told the Reds pitchers, lol.

    Just kidding, good to see, hope it translate to the regular season.
    Hoping to change my username to 75769023

  14. #41
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    So about those ‘deadened’ baseballs … exit velocity says, ‘Nope’

    https://deadspin.com/so-about-those-...say-1846643844

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    M2 (04-08-2021),Old school 1983 (04-08-2021)

  16. #42
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Tyler Naquin is absolutely smoking the ball. Leads the Reds with 7 pitches over 100 EV.

    Reds are 10th in MLB with 38 pitches >= 100.

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    ochoa30 (04-08-2021)

  18. #43
    Member mth123's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by Mitri View Post
    Tyler Naquin is absolutely smoking the ball. Leads the Reds with 7 pitches over 100 EV.

    Reds are 10th in MLB with 38 pitches >= 100.
    The Reds 5th and 6th OF have have 6 HR, 4 walks and a double in 33 PAs, oh and 3 singles to go with those 6 HR.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

  19. #44
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Madden View Post
    So about those ‘deadened’ baseballs … exit velocity says, ‘Nope’

    https://deadspin.com/so-about-those-...say-1846643844
    Is it possible that the ball changes make it harder to spin? Less movement might result in better contact. There would also be fewer K's. Are K's down this year?

  20. #45
    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: MLB making changes to the baseball,

    Quote Originally Posted by RED VAN HOT View Post
    Are K's down this year?
    Exceptionally small sample, but they're up from a 9.1 K/9 to 9.7.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

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    RED VAN HOT (04-09-2021)


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