MLB deadening the baseball for 2021

WildBill

WildBill

2
That's crazy that they have a humidor in Seattle. Last place they need to worry about humidity of the balls, if anything they need to liven them there.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
MLB baseballs produced at a Rawlings factory in Costa Rica.

Something of a secretive process.
 
Bucky

Bucky

EOG Dedicated
Baseball is so worried about stats. PED's affect the stats and are bad for the game but the morons think it is ok to mess with the liveliness of the baseball. It should be a crime to make the ball livelier and change the game like it did. All of a sudden all that matters is home runs. Shifts proliferate and fundamentals of baseball start to mean nothing.
 
A

Abundy

EOG Veteran
I agree Bucky. Stats used to be so valuable in baseball and now mean absolutely nothing. When someone was close to 500 homer’s for a career it was a milestone. Now barely news worthy
 
WildBill

WildBill

2
The three batter rule was a good start, but they should focus in on ending this 12 man pitching staff crap. If people want to get rid of the opener concept that's where you start.
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
ejd_5277 said:
Me too, but this only takes care of one of the outcomes...

I don't see average pitch speed going down anytime soon.
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I'm not sure it won't have some effect on the other two. Maybe it won't, but if a ball is "deader", or less lively, are we more likely to see pitchers challenge hitters and not nibble so much, which drives up the walk numbers?
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

2
Valuist said:
Nobody pitches more than 6 innings anymore so can't play an under 5 with the bullpens today.
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Half of MLB teams will carry 14 pitchers this year so the 6 inning trend will probably trend downward to the point not many SP’s face a lineup a third time
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
The biggest beneficiaries of the shortened season were the pitchers. Just not much wear and tear on the arms.
 
E

ejd_5277

EOG Dedicated
Valuist said:
I'm not sure it won't have some effect on the other two. Maybe it won't, but if a ball is "deader", or less lively, are we more likely to see pitchers challenge hitters and not nibble so much, which drives up the walk numbers?
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Maybe, but they're still challenging them with 95-98 not low 90's like before the home run craze.

A decrease in the home run numbers without an attendant decrease in the K rate will scare even more of MLB's already-declining fan base away.
 
Sac The Queen

Sac The Queen

EOG Member
Deadening the ball is stupid unless MLB also bans defensive shifts to even the score. Players beat the shift by home runs, not by hitting the ball to the opposite field.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Never liked the idea of banning shifts.

Reminds of playground baseball where the neighborhood kids declared "right field out."

When you have only 10 guys, you play five on five and anything hit to the right-field side of second base was ruled an out.

Made everyone a pull hitter.
 
Bucky

Bucky

EOG Dedicated
Small market teams are fighting to compete. It is why some of these new tactics were invented.

Cannot blame them for trying to win with what they have. Maybe, teams will teach their big hitters how to bunt to get on base against a shift.

But, can you teach a dead pull hitter to hit to his opposite field or should you?
 
WildBill

WildBill

2
Bucky said:
Small market teams are fighting to compete. It is why some of these new tactics were invented.

Cannot blame them for trying to win with what they have. Maybe, teams will teach their big hitters how to bunt to get on base against a shift.

But, can you teach a dead pull hitter to hit to his opposite field or should you?
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I think its more about the kids learning how to beat the shift being a good thing. Its going to take years to have these guys get to the majors, but once they do they just have to be more fundamentally sound than these dead pull HR or bust hitters today. I think a combination of the stats revolution and teams paying a lot less for free agents will lead to players learning the game a little differently. A bunt single reads a lot better analytically than another groundout to RF and teams won't just pay for home run hitters so doing the little things that get you to the MLB will pay off.
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

2
John Kelly said:
Never liked the idea of banning shifts.

Reminds of playground baseball where the neighborhood kids declared "right field out."

When you have only 10 guys, you play five on five and anything hit to the right-field side of second base was ruled an out.

Made everyone a pull hitter.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100%. The thought of MLB penalizing teams for trying to increase their chances to win while they do so within the rules makes absolutely no sense. Especially while pitchers openly cheat by doing things like using pine tar to increase their spin rates and the league does nothing about it.
 
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