The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flat-seam ball brings hope
Coaches, players expect offensive numbers to improve.
JACKSON, MISS. — Tim Corbin sounded more like a philosopher than Vanderbilt’s coach as he talked about the new flatseam baseball designed to bring a little more scoring back to the college game.
Finally, he hopes, after decades of tweaks and trying to figure out the correct balance between offense and pitching, the sport might have found a solution that sticks.
“Through the generations of the game, it’s been so up and down,” said Corbin, who led the Commodores to their first national championship in 2014. “We’ve always wanted to find that medium where there’s some harmony between offense and defense. I don’t know if we’ve ever been exposed to that.”
The change on the baseball is relatively subtle: The seams have been lowered so it’s more like the one used at the professional level. Researchers found the flat-seam ball could travel as much as 20 feet farther in the air than the previous raised-seam ball.
On the practice field, coaches and players are seeing the same results. Almost all expect at least a modest boost in offense.
Real results will be available soon: The college season starts Friday and pretty much everyone is suggesting fans get the gloves ready in the bleachers.
“I think you’re going to see a significant jump in offensive numbers across the board, not just in homers,” UCLA coach John Savage said.
College baseball, which has used metal bats since 1974, was long known for mammoth homers and crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
That all changed in 2011, when new standards for the bats drastically reduced all kinds of offense.
The effects were most pronounced during the College World Series at spacious TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. Only three homers were hit during the 2013 and 2014 tournaments, which matched the lowest total since 1966 when wood bats were used.
After much clamoring for another change, the new baseball was seen as a compromise.
Not surprisingly, college hitters are pleased.
“The ball definitely jumps off the bat a little more if you square it up,” Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “The game has definitely been dominated by pitching the last few years. This might help make it a little more even.”
College pitchers also say there are reasons to be excited about the switch. Vanderbilt’s Walker Buehler, who is considered a high-level prospect for June’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, doesn’t expect to have many issues.
“If you’re a guy who needed the high seams to get some spin on the ball, than it might be a problem,” Buehler said. “But for guys with power stuff — two-seam fastballs, cutters and sliders — I think it could be beneficial.”