There was some rather important news to emerge early in Spring Training. As reported by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin noticed a change in the baseballs saying, “I think it’s awesome. To me, they feel a little softer and you can definitely notice the seams a little more. Last year, it was like throwing a cue ball.”

In addition to Eflin saying the ball is different, the Mets seemed to get the old Noah Syndergaard back on the mound in his first Spring Training start. That meant not just a more confident pitcher, but also one who was able to locate his fastball and throw that nearly impossible to hit slider.

Noah Syndergaard's first strikeout of 2020. #Mets pic.twitter.com/p1lrpGqpmB

— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) February 26, 2020

As we saw in the World Series, Major League Baseball is comfortable changing the ball midstream. That said, at least during Spring Training so far, it appears the baseball is fixed, and we are back to a point where pitchers are better able to throw their pitches, and as a result, the balls may not be flying out of the park at a nearly historic rate.

In her article for The Athletic last year, Dr. Meredith Wills noted the changes to the baseball led to a “more aerodynamic ball.” Ben Lindberg of The Ringer noted it was a livelier ball. In essence, it was a ball easier to lift and drive even if a similar swift and quality of contact would not have led to nearly the same results. So far, it appears the baseball has reverted back, and we will be looking at different results.

When it comes to a pitcher like Syndergaard who noted the difficulty getting the grips and throwing his slider, that’s a very good thing. When it comes to players who broke out in 2019, that could prove very problematic. Pick a team, and you will find a player who broke out in 2019, and those players are now going to be counted upon to replicate that success.

Look at some of the 2020 World Series contenders. The Yankees had Gio Urshela. To a certain extent, it was the entire Twins roster with particular focus on Mitch Garver, Max Kepler, and Byron Buxton. The Astros are replete with issues including the jump in the stats of Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman, and the somewhat unexpected breakout of Yordan Alvarez.

On the National League side of the ledger, J.D. Davis was a completely different hitter than he was in Houston. Howie Kendrick had his best ever year at the plate at 35 years old. The Braves were led by a bounce-back year by Josh Donaldson (Twins problem now) and Ozzie Albies. This was the case outside of the National League East with players having power surges and rebound seasons across all of baseball.

If you follow a team close enough, you can pinpoint a player who either broke out in 2019 or rebounded in that season. For some, that might’ve been real adjustments made leading to significantly improved results, and they will continue producing at that level in 202o.

For others, a change in the ball is going to lead to their reverting to the player they were in previous season, no longer seeing a halt in their decline, and/or seeing their breakout seasons becoming outlier career years. When it comes to these players, there will be much tangential analysis as to why they are not repeating their 2019 season. While it is a worthwhile endeavor, the answer for the decline or reversion is going to be MLB fixed the baseball.