Verlander Accuses MLB of juicing Balls.. FINALLY!!!

[tatehill2000]

someone speaks up!
This season has been a dam FARSE!! IN mid may till end of june my best systems had a run of 25-2 LOSSES...(I bet unders only). lol... I dumped them after 5 in a row... but as they continued to Lose, i did look at the last 5 years of under data,,, aaaaaand guess what?
Overs are up 1000%

 

[tatehill2000]

I still keep watching, and monitering, but my systems are all jacked up now becasue of this season.. lolol

 

[ZJP6050]

something is up. pitching didn't completely sink to this level over the course of a year. totals as high as 14-15 is unreal. what i can't figure out is teams routinely getting 20+ hits per game. it's not all just home runs.

 

[tatehill2000]

verlanders numbers r SISICK!!!

EVERY HIT HE HAS= TO A HOMERUN???

Wtf???

What is hapening is impossible. Well.. unless the ball is juiced..

 

[skoda]

Been away from games basically all sports but I say MLB looks at juicing and might call them "Money Balls" not juice balls :toast:

 

[halekulani]

didn't they already cut the new MLB baseballs in half to show how they changed the core

 

[Serbone]

The ball is a joke, compression is like a golf ball. I also think bats are now harder to some extent than before.

And the upper strike zone only goes to the belt.

And the fruit shifts stop base hits, especially for left handed hitters.

SO, homers, strikeouts, walks, high pitch counts, so good starting pitchers are sometimes out after 6 innings or sooner.

They need to do something, fast:

• get the baseball back to previous specifications
• no shifts, 2 infielders must be on each side of second base, & need to be on the infield dirt not the outfield
• strike zone up to half way between belt and armpits

 

[rolltide]

didn't they already cut the new MLB baseballs in half to show how they changed the core

they changed the core and lowered the lace height to cut down on wind drag

June 2014 1.74 HR/game
June 2019 2.83 HR/game

that's > 60% increase

 

[MattyMatt]

I also think bats are now harder to some extent than before.

I think they're different for sure. I laughed and said, "Check that bat" last night. The slow mo flex on that gray bat was insane. I wish I could hit with it...lol

 

[Serbone]

I have been watching MLB for decades... and I swear, there are more foul balls straight back, than ever, the last few years, it seems to me.

Guys foul off 8 pitches in one at bat sometimes, it happens. AND there is no way they are trying to do that, it is a myth, you cannot foul off balls straight back to get a better pitch later that is ridiculous.

 

[NorthernStar]

someone speaks up!
This season has been a dam FARSE!! IN mid may till end of june my best systems had a run of 25-2 LOSSES...(I bet unders only). lol... I dumped them after 5 in a row... but as they continued to Lose, i did look at the last 5 years of under data,,, aaaaaand guess what?
Overs are up 1000%

More home runs equals bigger crowds and more revenue.

There is no way the the greedy baseball owners changed the baseball to get more home runs.....no way.... I just dont believe that they would let dollars interfere with the integrity of the game.

 

[rolltide]

on one of those evening shows they said before 2019 the lowest exit velocity ever recorded for a HR was 88 mph and this year there was a ball that was just 85 mph that left the park and several below 88 mph

let's be honest...after the pathetic 2018 ratings and the dismal 2018 playoffs TV ratings MLB needed to do something. they turned the dial a little too far and now it will start hitting the owner's pocket books as they are paying out bullshit performance bonuses and applying stats to players who will use this for free agency and arbitration. it will then swing back the other way

the stats boys say that, compared to his peers, Verlander is having the most dominant pitching season since Pedro Martinez 20 years ago and he's allowed 26 HR. He's never allowed more than 30 in a full season

 

[Serbone]

on one of those evening shows they said before 2019 the lowest exit velocity ever recorded for a HR was 88 mph and this year there was a ball that was just 85 mph that left the park and several below 88 mph

let's be honest...after the pathetic 2018 ratings and the dismal 2018 playoffs TV ratings MLB needed to do something. they turned the dial a little too far and now it will start hitting the owner's pocket books as they are paying out bullshit performance bonuses and applying stats to players who will use this for free agency and arbitration. it will then swing back the other way

the stats boys say that, compared to his peers, Verlander is having the most dominant pitching season since Pedro Martinez 20 years ago and he's allowed 26 HR. He's never allowed more than 30 in a full season

Then they made their problem even worse by juicing it more.
Homers should be special, climactic, they are much too frequent.
Fans also like base hits & an outfielder throwing a baserunner out, doubles, triples, stolen bases, hit & runs... ACTION.

 

[tar_heel_in_sc]

they changed the core and lowered the lace height to cut down on wind drag

June 2014 1.74 HR/game
June 2019 2.83 HR/game

that's > 60% increase

This. Imagine how much harder it is for pitchers to throw their breaking stuff with hardly any seams. I'm amazed when I see a well pitched game these days.

 

[pete7713]

This is the first year AAA minor leagues are using the exact same ball as the majors.

The home run rate at the Class AAA level has leaped by nearly 50% – from 1.74 homers a game last year to 2.56 this year, even before the weather’s warmed up.

 

[Hamilbet]

Heard a good podcast about this the other day.

- The ball density is the same. There are instruments that test it.
- Since the MLB bought Rawlings (for $400M) the balls got smoother (I assume the leather changed) and the string/twine also got smoother. Bu I think this was only a year or so ago.
- The mud is applied by equipment managers of the home team. Pitchers want them dirty, hitters want them clean. So they try and find a happy medium but they are not regulated. So if the MLB leans on the teams, it would be easy to just use less mud. ( 1st video I found showing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH32Y_yqmD4 )

One theory is pitchers don't have the same control as they used to becasue of the lessened friction on the ball. (leather and twine) So pitchers are not hitting there marks as easily and leaving meatballs out there.

If I remember correctly, they said HBP has increased with a correlation in regards to HR. (I did not verify)

 

[Ladeda]

I have been watching MLB for decades... and I swear, there are more foul balls straight back, than ever, the last few years, it seems to me.

Guys foul off 8 pitches in one at bat sometimes, it happens. AND there is no way they are trying to do that, it is a myth, you cannot foul off balls straight back to get a better pitch later that is ridiculous.

Somewhat unrelated, but this reminded me of a pet peeve I've had with baseball for a long time.

Situation #1

- Batter swings and fouls the ball straight back to the netting, announcers rave about how the batter was "right on that one!" , the same for coaches in high school, etc. When it gets fouled right back somehow the batter is locked in and talk about how "he just missed that one"

Situation #2

-Batter hits a pop up to the mound , or second base, or straight up to the catcher. Then the announcers say "the pitcher got him to pop it up" or " a weak infield pop up" and it's considered a poor at bat.


Isn't the reality that insituation #2 the pop up, the hitter had a better swing and was closer to making good contact then situation #1 , fouled right back?

In order to foul it right back that means then barely made contact and missed the ball by quite a bit. The pop up means they made better contact and didn't miss the ball by much..

 

[halekulani]

here's the article i think i saw way back when

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/juiced-baseballs/

 

[Doug]

The ball is a joke, compression is like a golf ball. I also think bats are now harder to some extent than before.

And the upper strike zone only goes to the belt.

And the fruit shifts stop base hits, especially for left handed hitters.

SO, homers, strikeouts, walks, high pitch counts, so good starting pitchers are sometimes out after 6 innings or sooner.

They need to do something, fast:

• get the baseball back to previous specifications
• no shifts, 2 infielders must be on each side of second base, & need to be on the infield dirt not the outfield
• strike zone up to half way between belt and armpits

No need to ban the shift

A major league player should easily be able to just drop a bunt toward 3rd base when the 3rd baseman is playing shortstop and the SS is at 2B...

A guy using this to his advantage might flirt with a .400 average if speedy

 

[pete7713]

No need to ban the shift

A major league player should easily be able to just drop a bunt toward 3rd base when the 3rd baseman is playing shortstop and the SS is at 2B...

A guy using this to his advantage might flirt with a .400 average if speedy

Agree 100%, I saw Matt Carpenter bunt one hard toward 3rd base ball rolled to outfield grass he got a double. Chris Davis hitting .189 never attempts this, hard to understand.