Triple-A batters smashing it since MLB ball put into play

Balls are flying out of Triple-A ballparks like never before, coinciding with a switch in baseballs to the major league model.

The El Paso Chihuahuas have hit 89 home runs in their first 37 games — the most in professional baseball and more than half the 142 they slugged in 139 games last season. The Rochester Red Wings and Lehigh Valley IronPigs combined for 15 homers in a game last month. Overall, 26 of the 30 teams in the Pacific Coast League and International League are on pace to exceed their 2018 totals, most by a wide margin.

Not coincidentally, this is the first year Triple-A has played with the same ball used in the majors. The big league ball is said to be harder, more tightly wound at its core and with slightly lower seams, all of which make it more aerodynamic than the ball used at the Double-A level and lower and previously in Triple-A.

Bigger offensive numbers were expected when Major League Baseball requested the highest level of the minor leagues switch to balls to more closely align with conditions in the big leagues.

“I didn’t think it would be this drastic,” Omaha Storm Chasers pitching coach Andy Hawkins said.

Rawlings, the ball manufacturer for professional baseball, will supply 25,000 to 30,000 dozen balls for Triple-A games this season. Rawlings chief marketing officer Mike Thompson said there have been discussions about putting the MLB ball into play in Double-A, but no decision is imminent.

The price of the MLB ball is double that of the minor league ball, and MLB and the Triple-A teams are sharing the costs.

MLB balls are made in Costa Rica and minor league balls in China. The leather on the MLB ball is wet when sewed on as opposed to dry with the minor league ball. The MLB ball has “rolled” seams, meaning they’re not as high and, thus, more air resistant. The cork in the center of the MLB ball has four windings of wool yarn instead of three. Each MLB ball is stored in a climatecontrolled environment and must meet exacting specifications checked in extensive quality-control testing before shipping.

Through games May 11, season-to-date home runs in Triple-A were up 65% over a comparable period in 2018 (1,359 homers vs. 825), according to figures MLB provided to The Associated Press.

The season-to-date increase was 52% in the PCL (804 vs. 528), which has always been hitter-friendly because of high-elevation ballparks in the West, and 87 percent (555 vs. 297) in the IL.

The Triple-A team pergame average of 1.29 homers is unprecedented and matches this season’s MLB team average. It is a 48% increase from the 2018 Triple-A full-season average of 0.87.

With the prime home run-hitting summer months to come, there is no sign of an end to the power surge.

“The balls are flying more because they’re decent balls instead of the inch-high seams,” said the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds, exaggerating the stitch height. “I think that’s how it should be. You should play with the ball you’re going to play with