This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.
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"Prior to the 2021 season, MLB announced that it was making the baseball lighter and lowering its coefficient of restitution. Very quickly, it was apparent that the new ball had higher drag that was showing up in the Statcast numbers. The ball was jumping off the bat, producing the highest exit-velocity readings in the measurement era, but not flying as far. The drop in offense we’re seeing this year is wholly explained by the drop in production on contact -- by the new baseball."