The ball becoming the story of this MLB season

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There have been plenty of players complaining about baseballs so far this season. What has been interesting is that it has been both hitters and pitchers.

The hitters are complaining that the balls are dead and not sailing nearly as far as they did even a year ago. The pitchers say that the balls are inconsistent and feel different in their hands from inning to inning, making it more difficult to grip and spin the ball.

I thought this was just players trying to explain some of the early season struggles since there had been no public announcement about changes in ball manufacturing. However, there were reports recently that the Commissioner’s Office sent a memo to teams this winter saying they were manufacturing the ball with looser twine around the core, which would make the ball a bit lighter and less bouncy. To try and standardize the balls, all 30 teams are now using humidors in their ballpark to assure consistency around the league.

The Commissioner’s Office wants the ball to travel less than it has been with the notion that it will cause players to shorten their swings, trying for more singles and fewer home runs. It believed the changes would cause the ball to travel an average three feet less but there have been reports that the balls are sailing an average of eight feet less.

The reality is that the hitters’ response will not be what the Commissioner’s Office wants immediately. Instead, we’re seeing guys swinging harder to make up for the lost distance. It will likely take a couple of years to get the intended result.

Players are creatures of habit. They want the same schedule and same tools to use every day. When the ball keeps changing their world is thrown into a tizzy. Major