Supposedly yes it accounts for weather, especially since it's been mostly warm weather and indoor games so far. I can't read the article because it's behind a paywall but you can find people talking about it on Twitter.
There's a guy on Twitter named Rob Arthur talking about this and he keeps having to shoot down the weather question. It's some really good stuff. [Reply]
I would honestly have a hard time believing any kind of theory after just 1 round of playoffs. The sample size has shrunk quite a bit compared to the regular season. You would also probably have a hard time telling Verlander, one of the biggest cry babies about the HRs as he has quite possibly his best season ever, the ball wasn't juiced still after game 4. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Supposedly yes it accounts for weather, especially since it's been mostly warm weather and indoor games so far. I can't read the article because it's behind a paywall but you can find people talking about it on Twitter.
There's a guy on Twitter named Rob Arthur talking about this and he keeps having to shoot down the weather question. It's some really good stuff.
Fangraphs just put up an article asking if MLB has made changes to the ball for the playoffs and the TLDR version is that theres not enough data to suggest there has been any change and that the average fly ball distance for the playoffs is actually further than the regular season.
I thought it was kind of funny they singled out Verlander not saying anything about noticing any difference in the balls the same way I did lol. [Reply]
Juiced baseballs are total BS. Come on people, the “evidence” goes into the public spaces. Foul balls, home runs, players toss them to fans etc....They sell game used baseballs in the gift shop. There have been multiple studies done on those baseballs confirmed that were put in play during a game. Current baseballs and confirmed baseballs of old were measured. It’s the same baseball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
Juiced baseballs are total BS. Come on people, the “evidence” goes into the public spaces. Foul balls, home runs, players toss them to fans etc....They sell game used baseballs in the gift shop. There have been multiple studies done on those baseballs confirmed that were put in play during a game. Current baseballs and confirmed baseballs of old were measured. It’s the same baseball.
This is 100% not true. Studies have shown that compared to the start of 2015, the current balls have less "drag" on them, to the point that the HR rate this year was so absurd Manfred finally had to admit the current balls have less drag.
There's easy evidence of this at AAA, which might have pushed a lot of people over the line on this.
There were 3,652 home runs in AAA baseball combined in 2018. In the offseason, those leagues switched to the same ball MLB uses for this year. In 2019 there were 5,749 home runs in AAA. There isn't a reasonable person on earth that believes suddenly the entire group AAA players got so much better that they hit 2,000 more homers. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
This is 100% not true. Studies have shown that compared to the start of 2015, the current balls have less "drag" on them, to the point that the HR rate this year was so absurd Manfred finally had to admit the current balls have less drag.
There's easy evidence of this at AAA, which might have pushed a lot of people over the line on this.
There were 3,652 home runs in AAA baseball combined in 2018. In the offseason, those leagues switched to the same ball MLB uses for this year. In 2019 there were 5,749 home runs in AAA. There isn't a reasonable person on earth that believes suddenly the entire group AAA players got so much better that they hit 2,000 more homers.
A vintage Royals like inning by the Astros. Just putting the ball in play over and over. We've talked over on the Royals thread about how the Astros used to be one of the highest strikeout teams, but it's pretty clear they changed their philosophy a few years ago and now they are the best contact team in the league. They had the fewest K's in 2017 and they did again this year. [Reply]
