Ball Talk 2022

[bmags]

From Joe Sheehan's newsletter:

""Pitchers miss bats better than they ever have. When they don’t, the new baseball keeps them safe from harm. The lost home runs are just becoming flyball outs. In 2021, batters hit .225 on flyballs and slugged .914. Those numbers are .194 and .562 this year. No, I don’t think that’s just April or small sample size or a shortened spring. Statcast is reading the same things. It projects an expected slugging of .969 on flyballs this season. The actual number is .721. It projects a wOBA of .504. The actual figure is 100 points lower.

"It’s the baseballs.""

On the score this morning they discussed how Sunday had 12 baseball games playing  (I'm guessing there were some rainouts) and only 15 HRs hit, the fewest in any april day since 1992.

There are so many embarrassing things about Manfred's reign but this is so ridiculous. Be way more transparent about this, commit to 5 year runs of a ball, and give teams a year with the new ball before it goes into live. 

[JoeC]

Why don't they just use the same baseball?
Why is baseball the only sport that constantly changes its main game piece?

[Balta1701]

11 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Why don't they just use the same baseball?
Why is baseball the only sport that constantly changes its main game piece?

Well for the NFL we had a whole thing about Tom Brady’s balls and apparently pressures aren’t held constant depending on the weather so that’s one.

Second, the NBA had a kerfuffle a decade or so ago because they tried to change to the international ball and the players rejected it.

With MLB you just have a league with an ineffective leader too scared to make decisions or admit mistakes.

[chitownsportsfan]

That's interesting. See if it holds.

[JoeC]

5 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Well for the NFL we had a whole thing about Tom Brady’s balls and apparently pressures aren’t held constant depending on the weather so that’s one.

 Second, the NBA had a kerfuffle a decade or so ago because they tried to change to the international ball and the players rejected it.

 With MLB you just have a league with an ineffective leader too scared to make decisions or admit mistakes.

Yes, and in the NFL, there are clear and strict guidelines. The scandal was that the balls were altered and did not meet guidelines.

In the NBA example, there appears to have been dialogue / feedback. League tried to change the ball, and players rejected it.

In the MLB, who knows wtf is happening?

[bmags]

Well, the thing is the NFL balls weren't altered and also is nowhere near the effect that the baseball has since we are talking about it traveling 400 feet + outdoors and dealing with more wind resistance.

And in basketball, the NBA doesn't give players a ball that is different, have players play worse and say it feels like the ball is different, and claim the ball is actually the same.

If baseball is going to struggle this much with the ball, it's wild to me that Manfred has sided with the version that makes offense so much harder.

[chitownsportsfan]

6 minutes ago, bmags said:

Well, the thing is the NFL balls weren't altered and also is nowhere near the effect that the baseball has since we are talking about it traveling 400 feet + outdoors and dealing with more wind resistance.

And in basketball, the NBA doesn't give players a ball that is different, have players play worse and say it feels like the ball is different, and claim the ball is actually the same.

If baseball is going to struggle this much with the ball, it's wild to me that Manfred has sided with the version that makes offense so much harder.

Could be just an early batch right? Not that it's any better from a competitive standpoint to have such differences but I can see them tinkering like that.

[bmags]

Just now, chitownsportsfan said:

Could be just an early batch right? Not that it's any better from a competitive standpoint to have such differences but I can see them tinkering like that.

I hope so, but again I just can't stand that this is a "surprise". The teams should have all the info on the ball from the league months before the season, not from an astrophysicist in season again.

[pcq]

One factor with the weather is that balls usually shrivel in the cold and appear smaller to the hitter.

[ptatc]

35 minutes ago, bmags said:

Well, the thing is the NFL balls weren't altered and also is nowhere near the effect that the baseball has since we are talking about it traveling 400 feet + outdoors and dealing with more wind resistance.

And in basketball, the NBA doesn't give players a ball that is different, have players play worse and say it feels like the ball is different, and claim the ball is actually the same.

If baseball is going to struggle this much with the ball, it's wild to me that Manfred has sided with the version that makes offense so much harder.

I'm the NFL though accuracy is the key. Change the pressure slightly and the QB can can be more or less accurate.  He is trying to put the ball in an exact spot. In baseball it's not as exact.

I would say it's more important in football. They do have exact standards but it's the enforcement that is lacking as they allow the QBs to basically do what they want.

[ptatc]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

From Joe Sheehan's newsletter:

""Pitchers miss bats better than they ever have. When they don’t, the new baseball keeps them safe from harm. The lost home runs are just becoming flyball outs. In 2021, batters hit .225 on flyballs and slugged .914. Those numbers are .194 and .562 this year. No, I don’t think that’s just April or small sample size or a shortened spring. Statcast is reading the same things. It projects an expected slugging of .969 on flyballs this season. The actual number is .721. It projects a wOBA of .504. The actual figure is 100 points lower.

"It’s the baseballs.""

On the score this morning they discussed how Sunday had 12 baseball games playing  (I'm guessing there were some rainouts) and only 15 HRs hit, the fewest in any april day since 1992.

There are so many embarrassing things about Manfred's reign but this is so ridiculous. Be way more transparent about this, commit to 5 year runs of a ball, and give teams a year with the new ball before it goes into live. 

Wasn't there talk of all stadiums having a humidor for the balls this year?

Did that ever happen and could that be the difference?

Edited April 19, 2022 by ptatc

[bmags]

15 minutes ago, pcq said:

One factor with the weather is that balls usually shrivel in the cold and appear smaller to the hitter.

The thing is this isn't the first April.

[bmags]

11 minutes ago, ptatc said:

I'm the NFL though accuracy is the key. Change the pressure slightly and the QB can can be more or less accurate.  He is trying to put the ball in an exact spot. In baseball it's not as exact.

I would say it's more important in football. They do have exact standards but it's the enforcement that is lacking as they allow the QBs to basically do what they want.

Football accuracy declines in cold weather (when the ball deflates), because it is negated by it being more difficult to throw with numb fingers.

And you are thinking of this in terms of pitchers, when the person that is affected is hitters, who are say hitting a ball 112 mph with a 9 degree launch angle and flying out to the warning track like Aaron Judge on Sunday.

[mqr]

Maybe I’m misremembering but I seem to recall there being this exact conversation happening last April and it evened itself out by like June. 

[ptatc]

52 minutes ago, bmags said:

Football accuracy declines in cold weather (when the ball deflates), because it is negated by it being more difficult to throw with numb fingers.

And you are thinking of this in terms of pitchers, when the person that is affected is hitters, who are say hitting a ball 112 mph with a 9 degree launch angle and flying out to the warning track like Aaron Judge on Sunday.

I'm thinking hitting to.

The ball shouldn't deflate in cold weather as they are supposed to monitor it and adjust the ball to the specific requirements. 

[chitownsportsfan]

1 hour ago, pcq said:

One factor with the weather is that balls usually shrivel in the cold and appear smaller to the hitter.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, mqr said:

Maybe I’m misremembering but I seem to recall there being this exact conversation happening last April and it evened itself out by like June. 

I believe it was determined that baseball switched balls in the middle of the year last year.

Edit: 

Here's the study. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

The thing is this isn't the first April.

I believe he was making a joke about human balls.