With home runs being smacked at a faster pace than any other time in history, David Price says he and other pitchers believe that something is wrong with baseballs this season, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
"One hundred percent," Price said. "We have all talked about it."
Whether the ball is being juiced (as The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh posited in mid-June) or not, the results are alarming for pitchers. Scooter Gennett hit four home runs in a single game, for goodness' sake.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred dismissed juicing talk as "conspiracy theories," but he can't deny that home runs are being hit more frequently than ever before. Entering play Thursday, 14 batters have hit at least 20 home runs, and another nine have at least 18.
With the season nearing its halfway mark, that puts a lot of players on pace to hit 40, compared to the eight who ultimately reached that mark a year ago.
Tampa Bay Rays ace Chris Archer has noticed differences between major- and minor-league balls, which would help explain some astonishing leaps in performance.
"I'm staying away from my candid thoughts," Archer said, "but I know this for a fact: Triple-A balls travel 30 less feet than the major-league ball, with the same exit velocity and launch angle."
Despite his concerns, Archer's actually shaved his home-run rate nearly in half to 0.78 per nine innings from 1.34 a year ago.
"It's wound differently in the minor leagues," he said, "which has an effect on your breaking ball, the movement of your fastball, with how the ball carries off the bat. … (Cody) Bellinger, he didn't showcase this kind of power (in the minor leagues) because a fly ball to the warning track is now a homer."
The Los Angeles Dodgers rookie was averaging a home run every 18 at-bats in his last 554 at-bats in the minors, according to Nightengale. Since his major-league debut in April, though, he's averaging a long ball every 9.3 at-bats.
The Ringer's investigation found that balls have become smaller with lower seams over the last few seasons. Mets manager Terry Collins says the balls are harder, and suggested the different seams are causing pitchers to get more blisters. Price agrees.
"Never have I ever gotten a blister on my ring finger. I had a huge one," Price said. "And now that's gone, I have a cracked nail on my middle finger."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander said he'd noticed the lower seams too, and for San Francisco Giants starter Johnny Cueto, this season marks the first time in the veteran's career that the index and middle fingers of his pitching hand have developed blisters.
MLB denies the balls are different than they were last season, saying all of its own recent tests have matched specifications.
