New NCAA Ball...

Thank God, can we please get them into use for HS as soon as possible.

Home runs will go up, but Pitchers will adjust and they will go back down. Not to last years level, but I think their will be an initial spike.

I don't think it is a matter of pitchers adjusting. The game changed drastically with the BBcor rule - I don't have any major issue with it other then i feel like it was too big of an adjustment. If the new balls return a % of the missing power game everyone wins. The pitchers are still way way ahead of where they were 5 years ago.

I don't have want to see the return of 20-15 games in WS but I think the fence needs to be a part of the game, the past 2 years it honestly has been a nonfactor. Plus it drives back the OF, widens the gaps a little bit and makes the game better. Just my opinion.

Honestly I think the ball would have almost no effect overall in the high school game.

The BBCOR bat put a premium on speed and athleticism in the game, a good thing. The new ball is nothing more than a crutch for coaches that can't recruit and/or teach players how to turn around a baseball.

I think we might have settled on a good combination.

To Dad04's point, we still have the BBCOR bat, so the bat's sweet spot is still diminished and its trampoline effect more limited than we saw prior to its introduction.. Moreover, the exit velocity hasn't changed. As a result, the batter is still challenged to square the ball up and hit it properly.

However, with the new ball's improved aerodynamics, we can expect well hit balls to fly enough additional distance that the factors enumerated by old_school should be in play; giving power hitters more opportunity to thrive and preventing defenses from cheating in too much.

Meanwhile, pitchers will be given the chance to develop their craft with the very seam height that they can expect if they progress to the minor league game. 

The combination ought to bring somewhat higher scoring back to college baseball. As much as I LOVE a pitcher's duel, I have to acknowledge that part of college baseball's traditional appeal to the average fan has been its promise of more offense; and, ultimately, I want college baseball to thrive and prosper. It's hard to imagine it doing so if parks like Omaha's TD Ameritrade almost never surrender a home run.

I'm very interested...and hopeful...that my first sentence ends up being accurate.

Prepster.....I am also hopeful your initial sentence rings true. In the interest of full disclosure, the college program I support was at or near the top of the pile in most offense categories last year.

As you said, the ball will still need to be well motivated to fly far, which is good. The good news for pitchers is the lower seams could result in fewer blister problems.

The feedback I have heard from pro pitchers is that the pro ball (similar to the new college ball) spins as well as the old college ball. However, the guys saying that may have a better than average skill set. So who knows?

How would that be possible? Even if a home run is not in the game simply pushing the outfield back 5 steps will change the game. At a minimum it would add some doubles and some runs at that the plate that would have been thrown out with a shallow outfield....and in our area some hr's will be added for sure. 

I agree. Plus, fewer kids are going to be able to break off a good curve so batters will see more fastballs.

Good read: http://baseballnews.com/will-f...ge-college-baseball/

http://www.collegebaseballtoda...of-college-baseball/

My college son is a pitcher and a hitter.  He feels like the new ball hasn't been a problem on the mound and really isn't a big deal.  He has noticed that at the plate he likes it because he's hitting more balls out of the park.  Double edged sword for the pitcher/hitter.  I'm all for the change.  When a pitcher makes a mistake, it should cost him.  Not a level playing field when a hitter squares up a waist high fastball and it turns into a long fly ball. 

well said and spot on in my opinion.

With pitchers having all the advantage it's about time we give hitters an edge.  

This excerpt from the baseball news article pretty much shows how so many myths hang around the game.

“5. Round balls act differently than square balls. Physics dictates that a high-seamed ball will have more turbulent flight than a flat-seamed ball, resulting in more pitch movement. However, pitchers transitioning to pro baseballs report the opposite.”

When you believe the laws of physics don’t apply to you, you’re living your life on perception rather than reality.

Very interesting. That answered a question I have had for a long time. All teh other articles I read said this was a D1 topic only. But I know of D3 teams using the flat seam. This is the first article I have read that said D1, 2, and 3 are included.

You mean sissy gear like helmets and body armor? ;-)

BLD: Note that they say "Championships". At least at the D3 level I understood this was the case and that conferences would make decisions whether to use them or not. I understand the SCAC will use the new ball, not sure about others. Obviously you would want to use them all season, but I have not heard how this will be applied across all conferences at the DIII level.

You are correct. It will be interesting to watch the regionals and see if there is any correlation between the use of the ball in the regular season.

"Due to variables (individual bat speed, wind direction, whether the ball is stuck on the bat’s “sweet spot,” etc.) that can impact the distance a baseball can travel, not every trajectory hit with a flat-seamed ball will travel exactly 20 feet farther than a raised-seamed ball, but a 20-foot average difference is an approximate representation of what can be expected."

http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseb...ls-2015-championship

Van Horn / Razorback HC sees it differently:

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/...ugh-to-help-sagging/

I was glad when college and then high school implemented the BBCOR bat, mostly for safety but also to avoid giving a false sense of confidence that a college player was MLB worthy.  I think college baseball should use the same baseballs that MLB uses. 

If my son is fortunate and desiring enough to want to play college ball I would like him to know if he has the potential to make it to the bigs. 

A D1 college assistant coach in the Colonial Conference told me that the home team has the option on which ball to use.  That sounded odd to me.  Does anyone know if that is true?

My understanding is all of NCAA baseball uses the same ball, which is the tighter seamed ball discussed at length in this thread.

When I asked my son about the ball and HR's in fall ball, he said there may have been a couple more but not a significant amount. As a pitcher, he actually likes the ball better as it's 'closer' to the pro-ball they use in summer leagues. He said the movement might not be quite as significant, but more controllable. His offspead are a little harder, move a little less but are more locatable/predictable. I thought this made sense, since a higher seam catches more air and would thus mover more, but I'm not a physics guy.

Whe asked about fastball, he said velo didn't appear any different, except he could throw more two seams. With the raised seams he would tend to get rubbing/blister problems throwing the two seam in college ball, so he didn't throw it much. In the summer, being able to throw it a lot more made a huge difference in the wood bat/ MLB ball leagues.

Just a few random observations. 

Thanks for the insight.  I look forward to seeing how the new ball will affect the college game.

As well as the bats.  

I would agree with the wood bats but I'm wondering how many would break and then how many college students could afford replacements?  

And don't some colleges bring revenue into the program through contracts with various bat manufacturers?

I'm hoping my 16 y.o. gets the courage to use his wood bat during H.S. games. 

It always amazes me that the D-I programs can't afford wood bats, but the summer leagues and CC leagues can with much less funding.

The issue is not the cost of wood bats in D-1, the issue is the big contracts the coaches get for using the AL bats.

All levels of NCAA could use wood bats if the coaches would give up on their bat contracts. Good luck with that happening.

lionbaseball,

What would your boy or his team gain by him using a wood bat during the HS season?

With talk of wood bats and the mlb baseballs being used in high school, there are a couple of issues. With bats, it's not as easy to do as you would think. There is, believe it or not, only a limited amount of quality wood out there to even keep up with the major league demand. The bats you and I purchase on line or at the sporting goods store is not the same wood mlb'ers get. Some years there is a shortage even for the major league orders. If high schools went to wood, it would open up a huge market that manufaturers would have a problem filling. You'd end up with low quality bats at the HS level. Baseballs rpresent a similar problem. By all accounts, the major league balls are actually harder than the ones that will be used in college. The harder balls represent some wear issues at lower levels, however, where they aren't replaced evry two or three pitches. So, in truth, even if hs went to wood and lower seamed balls, it still would be nothing like what mlb is using. I think lower seasm might be ok, but I think BBCOR might give a better indicator of what a hs player can do at the pro levels than woudl an inferior wood product.

I'm hoping my 16 y.o. gets the courage to use his wood bat during H.S. games.

I strongly recommend against it, even if it is 100% true that he hits better with wood than with metal....because regardless of how well he hits--.400, .500--the perception of his coaches and teammates will always be that he could have hit better (and could have  helped the team more) if he had used a metal bat.

True, but those bats are set up to meet BBCOR standards, so I'm not sure I would see the logic of going to wood and then using wood products that aren't much difference in performance than BBCOR metal bats.

Adding on: lion -- JP's HS coach won't let him use wood. Not that he's dying to ... just sayin'.

Sons coach always had them use wood in the batting cage or during BP. With the smaller sweet spot he thought it made them square up better. He would not allow them to use wood during a game. 

but those bats are set up to meet BBCOR standards

I can't agree that composite wood bats are set up or designed to meet BBCOR standards.  As far as I know, they meet those standards naturally.  They're inert slabs of solid material.  Therefore they hit just like wood, which means that they meet the BBCOR stds.

Hollow BBCOR hits better than wood (in the hands of most batters) because they swing a bit faster (lower MOI) and because they have a somewhat larger sweetspot.

I coach HS players during the summer and fall in woodbat.   To me and most others the difference is noticeable from what we observe during HS play in the spring. Anecdotal of course, not scientific.

Btw, I think BBCOR is great, I wouldn't want to reduce offense any further by having HS go to wood bats. 

The mid-season DI stats are in.  The HR per game numbers are up significantly over last year. Also interesting that strikeouts per 9 innings are up quite a bit.  Everybody's happy.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseb...home-runs-39-percent

Thanks for sharing MAD. I have heard from a few that batting averages are down, though your cite indicates otherwise (+.37%) though slight

Being a pitchers dad I have followed this with interest. Even though I am a pitchers dad I also like his team to win ball games. So as long as we are hitting more than we are giving up I am fine with it. 

Plus when the team sees one guy hit one, suddenly others are swinging for the fences. And if they do not have the chops to square up on the ball that becomes a warning track fly out. 

Son is a Juco wood bat league. The first game I saw several balls that I thought didn't have a chance clear the fence. It is a big difference. It is a lot more than 20 feet if you are good at getting backspin on the ball. Teach your kids to put backspin on a ball. You will get more than 20 feet. Closer to 40 feet.

I spoke with my son last night, who is a DI pitching coach. From a pitcher's perspective, he says that the new ball is adding movement on the ball, but also reducing command As a result, both strikeouts and walks are up. More 2-seam fastballs are being called, and power pitchers are finding the most difficulty in making the adjustment because their pitches are being affected the most.

Mine did exactly that during a game going 3 for 3, all line drives. Nobody on the team including the coach complained.

That's great if he goes 3 for 3, but lets say he has a bad day and goes 0 for 3. I am sure that there might be some grumbling.

What I have seen watching my son's team play (VERY small sample, I know).  Lots of HR both for and against early. Lots of walks early. I think pitchers were still trying to get a feel for the ball and what it would do. Both HR and walks have slowed way down and strikeouts have increased.

My son says it took him a while to figure out how far his fastballs were going to move and how much his breaking balls were going to break.

Maybe it is simply pitchers catching up with hitters though

Was watching Vandy vs. someone (maybe kentuc) last sunday.During  a couple different innings they interviewed Vandy #1 and #2 pitchers.Both studs had all good things to say about new ball and thier adjustments in using new ball.Both felt the new ball help in them throwing better CB.Listening to both kids talk about new ball was interesting.The games on espn go are archived.Both during innings were early in game.

How do you suggest "teaching" backspin?

Here's one way:

Hitting curveballs produces 30% more backspin than hitting fastballs... and they go farther.

Hah! I never really thought of that, but it makes sense and explains why all those hanging curves I threw in high school are still in orbit.

http://www.chrisoleary.com/pro.../MythOfBackspin.html

If you wish to believe a knuckleball travels faster/farther than a ball with backspin (like a 4SFB), good luck to you.

Per the Sawicki Hubbard study

the batted backspin for the fastball is 30% smaller than that of the curve ball because the pitched fastball has backspin that must be reversed during batting, whereas the curve ball has initial topspin that is augmented. This larger backspin for the curve ball increases the optimal range by 4.0 m.

Curveballs, even when thrown 10-15 mph slower than fastballs, are driven 12 feet further when hit.

So, there's no question that added backspin adds distance.  And backspin trumps bat/pitch speed.