Earlier this week, after Noah Syndergaard told reporters that gripping a baseball on a cold night has felt like trying to throw an ice cube, I texted a former Mets reliever (now pitching with another team) to ask if he agreed.
"These baseballs suck," he replied. "They're more slick and the seams are more smooth and hard to grip."
I asked what happens if he roughs up the ball, to which he responded that it's pointless to do when the umpire puts a new ball in play nearly every other pitch.
Meanwhile, in what is clearly creating frustration among pitchers, this season is shaping up to be another record-setting year for power at the plate in Major League Baseball, according to the great work being done by Robert Arthur of Baseball Prospectus, who uses pitch-tracking information available in every ballpark.