Manny Margot, Jean Segura and how some hitters are learning how to thrive with the new ball

Frustration. Frustration is the name of the game right now as hitters try to figure out how to best be productive with this year’s baseball. “They told us to hit the ball high when the ball was hard, and we did,” said one Oakland A’s player. “Now the ball’s dead and they’re telling us to hit it low? What’re we supposed to do right now.” The conversation then rapidly fell into one that’s common from clubhouse to clubhouse these days: crosstalk about balls hit at certain exit velocities, with certain launch angles, that didn’t go out. Balls hit identically well with different results. Hits that would have gone out with a different ball, or without the humidors that baseball installed in 20 parks this offseason. “What’s up with that, bro? I hit a ball 108 (mph) at 23 degrees in Baltimore, straight center, just smashed, and I’m like that’s gone,” Carlos Correa said this week, “but the center fielder catches it and hits the wall and the ball drops, but I’m like, 108??” The changes were ostensibly made to find a more consistent ball and a more consistent offensive environment for players, but that hasn’t been the lived-in experience around…
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