​The Braves aren’t having a great run, so I’m proposing a question that essentially serves as a link dump—specifically, a dump of one very particular link. The emphasis here is on the word “effectively,” because we know MLB has at times attempted to shape the baseball itself, drawing on information it has collected. A few days ago, Bradford William Davis at Eyeblack compiled information he gathered from league official Morgan Sword. (Yes, the name is memorable—maybe not the best for a public figure’s actions.) The linked article above is free and accessible without a gated paywall; you simply enter an email, and there’s no required confirmation to gain access.
In essence, the core takeaway from Davis’s piece can be summarized in one brief line: On October 17, 2019, Morgan Sword, then the executive vice president, instructed Rawlings executives to build and maintain a baseball capable of supporting what he described as a “target leaguewide home run rate.” That’s the key point. If you recall, 2019 was the year the baseball traveled farther than usual and produced a flood of home runs, after which the trend shifted. Since then, the ball’s behavior has shown an odd pattern: 2022 featured higher drag, 2023 lower drag, 2024 higher drag, 2025 higher drag but with a bouncier ball, and 2026 has presented its own set of issues where early behavior resembled 2024, then shifted toward 2025, while reports throughout the summer highlighted production issues and discolored baseballs being removed from consideration before they could be used in play, all in the midst of drag readings that have fallen.
There’s a dark underside to this story, and the mood is undeniably somber. Some would argue that the Braves altered their offensive strategy in 2025 in response to higher drag observed in 2024. That adjustment didn’t pay off fully, partly because the 2025 ball’s increased bounciness undermined the changes. Then, in 2026, the Braves shifted back toward pre-2025 approaches—until June, when the data began to suggest a rebound in hitting deeper fly balls. The pattern has sparked debate about whether MLB’s attempts to steer the game toward a certain aesthetic—for example, more or fewer home runs or different fly-ball dynamics—are actually effective.
If you’re curious, read the article and weigh in on MLB’s effectiveness in steering the game toward a particular look or feel. The discussion is not just about statistics or player performance; it’s about the broader question of how much control the league truly has over the product on the field and whether those efforts translate into the outcomes fans are asked to value. This topic is especially timely for SEO-friendly discussion, inviting readers to explore how the mechanics of the ball, league policies, and on-field strategy intersect to shape peak moments, headlines, and the sport’s evolving identity.