New ball effect

[TopDog58]

They just said on the UM-LSU broadcast that homeruns are up 43% so far in NCAA baseball. However, runs per game has only increased by one tenth of a run. Also, strikeouts are up 10% from last year.

Does this sound right? They bumbled and stumbled thru the numbers so it may not even be accurate.

[messageboardsuperhero]

We'll probably need at least a full season to get some really clear data- maybe more than that.

[Todd4State]

It's hard to know what to make of it at this point.

My guess is that home runs overall will increase- but at the same time the ball has some advantages for pitchers on certain pitches as well, plus they wanted to change the strike zone which may account for the early returns on the small increase in run production despite home runs going up.

I don't really understand why they wanted to change the strike zone unless the NCAA wants to keep the scores low for some reason while increasing home run production.

[messageboardsuperhero]

It's hard to know what to make of it at this point.

My guess is that home runs overall will increase- but at the same time the ball has some advantages for pitchers on certain pitches as well, plus they wanted to change the strike zone which may account for the early returns on the small increase in run production despite home runs going up.

I don't really understand why they wanted to change the strike zone unless the NCAA wants to keep the scores low for some reason while increasing home run production.

Changing the strike zone was a head scratcher... It was already huge to begin with.