Major League Baseball will modify the baseballs used this season in an effort to curb home run rates. According to famous journalists, Eno Sarris and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, “the construction of the ball will change slightly, and five more teams are adding humidors for ball storage, all parts of MLB’s attempt to reduce recent and wild year-to-year changes in home run rates across the league. “
In a league memo sent to general managers, assistant general managers, and team managers, Major League Baseball allegedly wrote that the upcoming changes would depress offensive numbers slightly in 2021.
Athletic indicated that the next changes in the ball should make it “less bouncy.” One analyst estimated the changes would lower home run rates by five percent. That analyst from The Athletic said:
It’ll be like adding five feet of outfield walls to every wall in the majors.
A general manager told Sarris and Rosenthal:
I think it will result in more ball consistency and very, very light cushioning. “
For his part, a team consultant added:
People care. It’s hard to know what you’re going to get from both hitters and pitchers. Teams are asking, ‘When can we get our hands on some of these balls?’ So they can read how things will be different. “
Teams using humidors should also affect infractions. Teams using them have reportedly seen a 20 percent drop in home run rates, according to public analyst Derek Carty.
Between 2014-19, home run totals varied wildly:
2014: 4,186 total home runs.
2015: 4,909 total home runs.
2016: 5,610 total home runs.
2017: 6,105 total home runs.
2018: 5,585 total home runs.
2019: 6,776 total home runs.
MLB appears to be looking for consistency with the upcoming changes. While the game’s fundamental shift toward prioritizing strikeouts and home runs isn’t going to change, it’s possible the league could normalize some of the wildly fluctuating power numbers it has seen in the past decade.
