The amount of home runs that have been hit thus far this season has sparked plenty of conversation, but Rob Manfred is confident it has nothing to do with the baseballs being altered.
The Major League Baseball commissioner spoke to reporters ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Cleveland and made it clear the 3,691 dingers that have been hit this year falls solely on the batters, even though people like Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander strongly disagree.
“Baseball has done nothing, given no direction, for an alteration of the baseball,” Manfred said, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
MLB Network’s Joel Sherman also reported Tuesday that Manfred made it clear there’s “no desire among ownership to increase homers in the game, to the contrary they are concerned about how many we have.”
The record for home runs hit in a season was set in 2017 with 6,105. That record likely will be obliterated by the time the 2019 campaign comes to a close if the current pace continues in the second half of the season.
