Here we go again.
After six-and-a-half years of lofted fly balls that made people say, “Wait, that got out?” the 2022 season has instead featured a barrage of loud outs that make people — even pitchers — say, “Wait, that wasn’t a homer?”
And yes, a change in the baseball itself is again altering the state of play in MLB — this time kneecapping the home run surge that has kept scoring afloat in an age of ever-advancing pitching wizardry. Unlike the original “juiced” ball that entered the league around the All-Star break in 2015 — with fluctuations that peaked in 2017 and 2019 — this change came with some hint of warning that an adjustment was being made.