After years of skyrocketing home run rates, modified baseballs could make it harder for teams to score in 2021.
According to a report from Ken Rosenthal and Eno Sarris of The Athletic, MLB recently issued a memo in which plans for a less bouncy ball were revealed to top front office officials and equipment managers. In addition to those changes to the composition of the ball, five teams are adding humidors to store the balls and ensure they behave consistently.
The changes come after the two most prolific home run seasons in MLB history. In 2019, teams averaged a record 1.39 home runs per team per game and in the shortened 2020 season teams had the second-highest home run rate of all-time with 1.28 home runs per team per game.
Rawlings, makers of the official MLB ball, “identified a key way it could change the ball reliably” while still staying within the league’s existing specifications in an effort to have more consistency in the ball.
It’s unclear whether — or how much — this change will ultimately effect the on-field product. As reported by Rosenthal and Sarris, the COR (coefficient of restitution — meaning “the relationship of the incoming speed to the outgoing speed,” which in part affects the bounce of the ball) is changing slightly, and the ball size “was likely reduced by less than 2.8 grams.”
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