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  • Baseball America

    SEAM CHANGE

    Apr 06, 2021 3 minutes
    by KYLE GLASER

    As the 2021 season begins, there are numerous questions surrounding the game.

    How will pitchers handle the increased workload of going from 60 games to 162? How will National League teams adjust to not having a DH a year after having one? How did the canceled 2020 minor league season affect the preparedness of young players?

    Those questions are among the many unknowns entering the season.

    The greatest unknown, however, may be the baseball itself.

    Major League Baseball sent a memo to all 30 teams in February outlining changes, were designed to deaden the ball in response to the soaring home run rates of recent years. A record 6,776 home runs were hit during the 2019 season. The home run rate of 6.6% in 2019 decreased only slightly to 6.5% in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

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