Karl Ravech: “What’s your opinion on the ball being used this year? Any different?”
Max Scherzer: “I don’t feel anything different with the ball but I think we can all see the ball is traveling differently and the Commissioner (Rob Manfred) has even come out and said the drag on the ball is different and less. But you can’t cry about it, you gotta go out there any pitch. I’m not gonna cry about it, our hitters get to hit with it.”
Seven-time All-Star and 3-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer joined ESPN on the field at the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in a brief interview with long-time network baseball anchor Karl Ravech.
Scherzer was asked about the idea of ‘juiced balls’ in Major League Baseball, as the league is seeing its most profound power surge in its history.
Many around the sport have questioned whether the MLB has tinkered with its official ball, as even MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that the baseballs are indeed different.
Scherzer said he doesn’t ‘feel anything different’ with the baseball but said the balls are obviously traveling different. He added ‘I’m not going to cry about it’ and ‘our hitters get to hit with them too’.
The comments were alluding to the recent gripes former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander had made earlier in the day, saying ‘it’s a f***ing joke’ and ‘we’re not idiots’ regarding the MLB saying they were unaware of the game ball enhancements that Rawlings was experimenting with.
A total of 3,691 home runs have been hit in 2019 at an average of 1.37 home runs per game.
The MLB season record for home runs was 2017 when 6,105 home runs were hit, which averaged out to 1.26 home runs per game.
At the current pace for 2019, 6,668 home runs would leave the park this season. Over 550 more than the previous record in 2017.