Major League Baseball made headlines just before the start of Spring Training when it was revealed they plan to deaden the baseballs for the 2021 season in effort to reduce the number of home runs hit.
The reason that is so controversial is because MLB has never let it be known they juiced the baseballs in the first place, although home run statistics from recent years would certainly support that.
To no surprise, many hitters are not happy with the change it baseballs, and Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy was among those to express disappointment. “Does them deadening it mean pitchers don’t throw 100 mph also?” Muncy said. “That’s my only question.
“I feel like the whole game is kind of triggered against the offense, and now they’re taking the one advantage we had. Maybe or maybe not the ball was a little juiced. They obviously have never confirmed that, but them saying they’re going to deaden the ball was kind of heartbreaking. But you’ve got to go out there and get around it somehow.
“We’ll see how it goes during spring. Hopefully we have the baseballs now and we can start seeing how they fly. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference it actually is.”
Muncy burst onto the scene with the Dodgers in 2018 as one of the best power hitters in baseball, slugging 35 home runs in each of his first two seasons. Although he had a down year offensively in 2020, he still hit 12 homers in 58 regular-season games.
As someone whose game revolves around hitting the ball out of the ballpark, MLB deadening baseballs would certainly have a big impact on Muncy, so it is understandable why he is upset.
Price among those to question MLB
It isn’t just fans and hitters that are questioning this decision from MLB as Dodgers pitcher David Price was also among those to do so.
Price’s concern was a bit different though as he was wondering why MLB never admitted to juicing the balls in the first place, which is also a logical question to ask.
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