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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

New Ball, New Norm: Home Run Totals Skyrocket

May 1, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS - They started using major league baseballs in Triple-A games this season, but what's the big deal? A ball is a ball is a ball. Right?

Wrong. Way wrong.

April came and went with an amazingly frequent sight in the International League: A hitter trotting around the bases, having just sent one of those major league baseballs 400 feet. Or in Patrick Kivlehan's case on the first of May, 477 feet.

A season ago, the Indians owned six home runs all April. This April, they had 32.

A season ago, International League hitters averaged a homer every 60.96 plate appearances. This April, there was one in every 32.63.

A season ago, Toledo led the IL with 18 April home runs. Syracuse just finished this April with 19. That was last in the league. Seven teams had more than 30.

A season ago, 23 home runs were the most any one player in the league hit for the season. Louisville's (and Norwell High School's) Josh VanMeter is nearly halfway there already, with 11. Kevin Kramer's 15 a year ago was the high for the Indians. Will Craig hit seven for Indianapolis this April. By midnight Tuesday, when May arrived, 153 IL players had homered this season.

Boom, boom, boom. Translation: A ball is not a ball is not a ball.

Is that what's going on out there?

"I'm going to have to say yes. If you look at the biggest change that we made in the game, it was the baseball," Indians manager Brian Esposito said. "We implement a new baseball at this level - the same one they use at the major league level - then all of a sudden our home run rates skyrocket."

Indeed, the early gap in power numbers between the 2018 minor league ball and the 2019 major league version is, like, 9,000 miles wide. Which, by the way, is the distance between where they're made. Minor league baseballs come from China, major league balls from Costa Rica. Different hemisphere, different home run total.

The seams on the major league ball are smaller, the leather perhaps better. Let's go around the Indians clubhouse to see what that means.

Pitcher Mitch Keller on the major league ball: "They're harder, they're slicker, they go a little bit farther."

Catcher Jacob Stallings: "They're slicker, so they're harder to pitch, harder to throw. Obviously, they travel better."

Hitting coach Ryan Long mentioned bounce tests he has seen between the two: "It always seemed like the major league ball would bounce a little higher. So, whatever that says."

Esposito: "I'm no physicist, but I'd have to believe that if the seams are larger they're going to cut down some of the rate at which they travel through the air. If they're tighter and smaller, you're going to get more carry, more distance, more spin. It just feels different. You can easily pick up a big league ball and an old minor league ball and feet a distinct difference in your hand.

"Now we're seeing that we've got to treat the ball a little bit different down here. How you rub up the ball down here matters. If you do a poor job of it - which I've seen plenty of game balls not rubbed up the way they're supposed to be rubbed up - it's a huge difference."

Put all that together, and April turned into a fireworks show. You wonder if it has the hitters thinking long ball more.

"For me personally, no," said Craig, who is always aiming to drive something, even if it's a tennis ball coming to the plate. "For me it's just taking my best swing every time."

Same for Stallings, here for a rehab stint. "You (try to) hit a ball well -- it's hard enough to do as it is. Just some of those doubles might start turning into home runs."

Nor do the pitchers feel besieged.

"It's going both ways," Keller said. "A pitcher's job is to keep our team in the game. If they're hitting more home runs, then we're going to hit more home runs, too. We're just trying to limit the damage."

This new ball/new world comes with many dynamics. There were 216 more walks this April than last, but also 502 more strikeouts. So, while that major league ball might be easier to hit a long way, lots of times, it hasn't been that easy to hit at all.

Plus, there are other factors.

Long mentioned that April seemed warmer this season, and perhaps more windy days with the flags blowing out. Plus, hitters have been developing their power skills.

"It's a combination of all those things. And then hitters getting some better pitches to hit. There's been a lot of walks too, so guys are nibbling and then when they do come in, they're hittable."

Stallings had another possibility: "Maybe the league has a lot more power hitters this year, too."

But the ball is in the middle of it. If it can be a little slick to throw, and if it can leave a vapor trail when it's hit...well, not hard to guess what happens.

Esposito: "More walks, more poorly executed pitches, leaving more balls over the heart of the plate. There's a lot of things that go into it. Is it the ball? There are a lot of indicators that say yes. Are hitters that much better? I don't know. Have there been some balls that were hit that found their way on the other side of that fence that would not ordinarily go out? For sure."

So it's a change. But a good one, by general agreement.

Esposito: "I think it's a great deal because of the end result of what we're trying to do here; we're trying to create an environment where all these players are going to help out our major league club. If we're using a different ball down here and then we expect those guys to go up there and be able to just change their uniform, but play and perform at the same rate, that's not going to happen.

"If you look at the biggest transition of pitchers going from the minor leagues to the big leagues last year, it was command of their stuff, because of the difference in the baseball."

Stallings: "If you're pitching in Triple-A and you're going up to the big leagues for the first time and using a completely different ball in your major league debut, it's a little bit intimidating."

Keller: "I don't know why the whole minor league system doesn't use the same ball. I think everyone should use them. We're preparing for the same thing."

You can see why the pitchers think it's a good idea - no matter how far away some of their fastballs land. The hitters don't seem to mind it, either.

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