The mysterious ball bounce Teammate-190

—Exploring the new influx of home runs hit with the Teammate-190 ball at the start of the season.

Have a good Sunday, everyone! I was eager to get back to our weekly column, so let's talk a little baseball. You have probably heard the topic that has become a trend at the beginning of the 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball. Yes, the amazing bounce of the Teammate-190 ball, which caused a large percentage of the home runs during the first week of this regular season. Let's quickly get into context: Before this Saturday, 68 home runs had been hit in the first 40 games. Do you know what that number meant? Well, according to the rhythm, what was evident to suspect: more than double the 32 home runs that were hit in the first week of the last 62nd National Series.

The increase in home runs, as expected, generated erosion in the scoreboards. Production was on a grand scale: 493 runs were scored, 174 more than last year's 319. With those numbers, it is impossible to expect good news for pitching. The echoes of the swollen initial ERAs were thunderous: the pitchers finished the first week succumbing with a 5.32 ERA, and the bullpen took the brunt of the punishment (they averaged a 5.42 ERA). The following is just a sample of how much the bounce of the Teammate-190 ball has impacted this start of the season:

Highest home run per game averages

The statistics correspond to the span of the first six games of each team in the last 33 National Series:

1. 35 CNS: 2.95

2. 50 CNS: 2.53

3. 60 CNS: 2.32

4. 42 CNS: 2.15

5. 49 CNS: 2.08

6. 63 CNS: 2.00

7. 32 CNS: 1.98

8. 61 CNS: 1.98

9. 40 CNS: 1.85

10. 33 CNS: 1.83

23. 63 CNS: 1.30

The OF of the Vegueros de Pinar del Río, Yaser Julio González, is co-leader in home runs at this start of the season, and has been the main home run hitter in the last three Cuban National Series. Photo: Aslam Castellón.

As you can see in these averages of home runs per game, the production of this first week of the 63rd National Series was placed in sixth place in the ranking. In recent years, the average of 2.32 in the 60 CNS appears in third place, and the 61 CNS in eighth with 1.98. Now that we have come this far, we can return to the most recurring question these days: will we be playing with the same ball as last year? The numbers shatter that thesis, although officially it continues to be assured that it is.

Among the reasons for this disproportion, a recurring argument in recent campaigns has been explained: the low quality of the pitching. An allusion was also made to the fact that the balls could have undergone transformations due to the weather or shipping by sea. Those so-called “influencing factors” did not occur last year. And the reality was that, in the first week of this 63rd National Series, pitchers have allowed a lower batting average than last year (.289 by .291) — although they are throwing fewer walks (4.6 BB/9 by 4.2 BB/ 9). Hitters' slugging has increased only .043 thousandths (.456 by .413) and, when it comes to success with balls put in play, the BABIP for the year was also higher, .321 by .310.

Does that comparison in peripheral statistics really make a notable difference from one year to the next? Of course not and, in any case, the advantages in scoring probabilities turn in favor of the offense in the last 62 National Series. In fact, the only trend that has skyrocketed is the home run average. And, if we analyze in detail, it would also be illogical to think that the increase in offensive power is solely due to a regression in pitching at the national level.

The abrupt bounce of the ball is being so evident this year that just over 50% of the home runs produced during this same period last year are being hit. Also, listen to this: the 12 home runs that were hit last Saturday afternoon — 11 of them in the games between Granma-Santiago de Cuba (6) and Sancti Spíritus-Mayabeque (5) — equaled the record of all those who They were hit in the first 48 games of the 39th National Series.*

*In the history of the National Series, the 39th edition was the most critical in terms of power, yielding an average of 0.3 home runs per game during the first week. The poor bounce of the Batos ball, combined with the return of the use of the wooden bat, was disastrous throughout the 1999-2000 season. After 720 games in the regular season, the final league average was 0.4 home runs per game. Everything turned out to be chaos: 13 teams finished below that average, including three, Camagüey (9 HR), Cienfuegos (8 HR) and Holguín (7 HR), which in 90 games were surpassed by the league's home run leader, Industriales catcher, Iván Correa (10).

Well, now we go to another point around the amazing bounce of the Teammate-190 ball: the “apparent” drop of the pitch. We already demonstrated here that hitters are not having more success with their swing in terms of balls put into play. The increase has only been in power and, specifically, home run rates. As for pitching, before last Saturday's games, a total of 56 pitchers had allowed 68 home runs. Only nine allowed multi-HRs, three more than last year's pitchers. But here is the main evidence that the “mysterious” bounce is due to the current state of the Teammate-190 balls that are being used: most of those pitchers were part of the elite in the last 62 National Series.

Yes, in all of them, the records of home runs allowed sound strange. What has been the reason? Simply because last year they went an average of 15 innings without seeing their opponents celebrating a home run swing.

Pitchers who have allowed at least two home runs this season, and usually dominated without a hitch last year:

-Keniel Ferráz (Las Tunas): he allowed 4 HRs in 65 ⅓ innings last year, the same amount he has this season in just seven innings.

-Leandro Martínez (Granma): allowed 2 HRs in 66 ⅓ innings last year, the same amount he has this season in one start and five innings.

-Dorvis Navarro (Isla de la Juventud): he allowed 1 HR in 58 ⅓ innings last year, this season he has allowed two after accumulating eight innings.

-José Isaías Grandales (Sancti Spíritus): allowed 2 HRs in 91 ⅓ innings last year, the same amount he has this season in six innings.

-Wilber Reyna (Santiago de Cuba): he allowed 5 HRs in 82 innings last year, and this season he has hit two in 3 ⅓ innings.

So, is the increase in home runs solely due to poor pitching? The manufacturers of the Teammate-190 ball could explain in depth their arguments about the uneven bounce of the ball this year, but the numbers lead us to a clear and objective answer: the root of the problem does not lie in the sustained decline of pitching.

In any case, we will continue to investigate each revealing trend, especially due to the experience in previous seasons, where the frequency of home runs then faded. And, yes, in the end, as happened in the 60th and 61st National Series, the mysterious Teammate-190 bounce vanished, as if they had used another ball.