A week or so ago, author Robb Fitts posed a two-part question to our podcast about whether there was data to support my assertion that the ball being used in NPB in recent weeks was actually livelier than the ball in play from the start of the season, and if so, does that account for the Carp’s late-season lack of buoyancy.

The ball has been changed

In short, the answer to the first question is “most likely.” The ball in play now is deader than the ball in play at this time of year the past three seasons, but is nothing like the disaster of a ball that NPB began the season with.

Prior to July 1 this season, 3.7 percent of balls that went out of the infield were home runs. From 2021 to 2023, the percentage was 5.9 percent, 36.6 percent less often. I didn’t include 2020 because the season didn’t start until June 19 because of the pandemic.

From Aug. 15 to Sept. 13, the percentage of balls into the outfield that reached the seats this year was 5 percent. In the previous three years it was 6 percent, a decrease of just 16.8 percent.