Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Rips MLB For ‘Worst Thing’ About Baseballs

Former Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Strahm has a bone to pick with Major League Baseball, airing out his grievances with one particular issue that he feels is negatively impacting the sport.

Now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Strahm noted how MLB’s lack of consistency in baseballs provided to pitchers is an ongoing issue that particularly irks the 31-year-old. With the installation of a list of new rules implemented for the first time this season, the controversy of the baseballs themsevles is a discussion that Strahm intends to keep alive.

“That’s the worst thing in our game right now is the baseballs. We don’t have those things figured out worth a crap,” Strahm told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on Audacy Sports’ “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “It is atrocious. You reach your hand in that — I mean, you don’t know if you’re grabbing a tennis ball or a youth baseball. There’s no consistency whatsoever. Not even in a dozen balls. You got a dozen, three of them are gonna have high seams, three of them are gonna have low seams, three of them are gonna have spaced-out seams and then the other ones are gonna be lopsided.”

Again, this conversation and complaint from pitchers is anything but new.

Justin Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, also ripped MLB back in 2019, accusing the league and commissioner Rob Manfred of deliberately using “juiced” baseballs in order to help amplify the offensive statistics.

In 2019, the total number of league-wide home runs hit rose from 5,558 (in 2018) to 6,776, according to Baseball Almanac, which marked the most ever hit in league history. However, studies conducted by MLB resulted in no findings to support the theory that the baseballs were intentionally “juiced,” leading to the record-setting spike in round-trippers.

Fast forward four seasons later and Strahm notices no difference. He’s also undergone a struggling stretch on the mound, tasked with fulfilling the role as both a reliever and as a part-time starter with the Phillies this season. Since the start of June, pitching strictly out of the bullpen, Strahm has recorded a 4.87 ERA, allowing 11 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings thrown.

“I wouldn’t say (it’s) a thousand percent worse, it’s just zero percent better,” Strahm explained. “Whatever they say they’re doing (to fix baseballs), they’re saying it, but they’re not doing it.”