OC Register: A major-league baseball vs. a Triple-A ball: Can players tell the difference?

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Andrelton Simmons leaned into the black reclining chair at his locker in the Angels’ clubhouse, his eyes closed. Beneath his seat, Simmons bounced a baseball off the floor, from his left hand to his right hand, back and forth, over and over. The shortstop was steeped in trance-like concentration as he studied the sensation of the ball’s leather surface against his fingertips. This was a test.

“I feel like it’s a BP ball,” Simmons said. “The seams are higher. Where did you get this?”

Batting practice, I confessed.

It was October 2017. Dodger Stadium. While the players took BP, a ball rolled to my feet in foul territory as if drawn by magnetic force. I picked it up and scanned my surroundings. No one seemed to be looking for a baseball, so I pocketed my pillage. A month later I received an official Pacific Coast League baseball (by request) in the mail. The two balls gathered dust for the better part of a year, their fate undetermined.

Minor League Baseball announced recently that both Triple-A leagues would use baseballs manufactured to major-league specifications in 2019. The minor league balls were previously manufactured at Rawlings’ plant in China. Rawlings makes its major league balls in Costa Rica, where the league announced in May that it would be scrutinizing the manufacturing process more closely.

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Other than the stamp on their covers, the PCL and MLB baseballs should be the same next year. I was curious to know how much of a difference that would make.

Fortunately, I had the raw materials to conduct an experiment. With a willing group of test subjects in the Angels’ clubhouse, I set out to answer a simple question: Could a baseball player close his eyes, hold a PCL ball in one hand, an MLB ball in the other, and tell which one is which?

For the most part, the answer was yes. How the experiment unfolded was more interesting than the actual results.

Pitcher Jose Alvarez needed about three seconds to determine the correct answer.

“It feels smaller,” he said of the major league ball. “You can feel more of the seams.”

Catcher Francisco Arcia produced the correct answer in two seconds. He was tipped off by the same clue as Alvarez: the seams. To the naked eye, anyone could see the red laces lay flatter but wider against the PCL ball’s seams. Major league laces looked thinner but protruded more from the surface of the ball. Baseball players didn’t even need the naked eye to know the difference.

Outfielder Kole Calhoun, who has played 10 minor league rehab games in the last five years, aced the test too. The players were 3 for 3.

Then came outfielder Jabari Blash. He needed more time than his teammates. Blash switched the balls between his hands before producing an answer – and got it wrong.

“What!” he exclaimed, opening his eyes to the embarrassing truth.

Blash has played 83 games in the PCL this season and 22 in the majors. He clearly didn’t want to be the only Angel to fail the test, and suddenly I had a research assistant.

“Kaleb, I got something for you,” Blash said to teammate Kaleb Cowart. “Close your eyes and put your hands out.”

Cowart obliged. Blash handed him the baseballs. Fifteen seconds later, Cowart had the correct answer.

“Awwww,” Blash said.

“It’s softer,” Cowart said of the PCL ball. “It’s guaranteed softer – to me. The seams are a little bit softer, too. That one (the MLB ball) just feels rock hard. I’ve played a long time in the PCL so I know.”

Rookie third baseman Taylor Ward got it right too. Simmons, who hasn’t touched a minor league ball since a 2016 rehab assignment, got it wrong on his first try. He re-took the test for his own satisfaction, but at least now Blash had a partner in embarrassment.

Rookie outfielder Michael Hermosillo passed the test without hesitation.

“The first time I picked up (an MLB ball) I couldn’t grip it,” he said. “The big league ball’s way slicker.”

Eric Young Jr. passed the test. Justin Upton – who’s played 15 PCL games in his life, none in the last 10 years – did not. Rookie Sherman Johnson got it right the first time, wrong the second time (a thorough research assistant, Blash made him try it again) and correct the third.

“The ball moves up here more,” Johnson said. “Even as an infielder, I couldn’t control it.”

Pitcher Tyler Skaggs needed three seconds to pass the test. Noe Ramirez needed 10. Finally, I found two pitchers who failed: Andrew Heaney and Taylor Cole. Of the 14 participants in the experiment, nine produced the correct answer.

Before I could tally the results, a funny thing happened. A roundtable discussion broke out among a group of pitchers in one corner of the clubhouse: Heaney, Cole, Ramirez and Deck McGuire. Each had already formed anecdotal observations about the differences between the two balls, and what it meant for their craft on a practical level. Now they had direct evidence of the differences staring them in the face.

In the majors, Cole said, “I just feel like my stuff’s better, to be honest. My stuff’s sharper.”

Cole, a 29-year-old rookie, has a 2.94 ERA in 17 games as an Angel. He had a 5.37 ERA in the PCL. He never mentioned getting better movement with a major league ball, or a better grip, and I never thought to ask.

“It’s not like you can pick it up and throw it,” Cole said. “It took me a while to get used to it.”

McGuire, a journeyman who debuted last year at age 28, said he’d heard about the baseballs being different before experiencing it for himself. The first time he was invited to major league spring training, McGuire wanted a fresh box of balls so he could get acclimated before camp opened. Having never bought major league baseballs on his own, McGuire didn’t realize how expensive they were – “it was like $150!” he said – and ultimately decided to pass.

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The impromptu committee concluded that switching to major league balls would ultimately favor the Triple-A hitters.

“Those games will never end,” one pitcher quipped.

That would be a big difference indeed.

Minor League Baseball already introduced rules designed to speed up games this year, notably a runner on second base to begin every extra inning. Maybe those rules will be more useful than anticipated. Maybe the adjustment from Double-A to Triple-A will become a bigger leap for pitchers than their first promotion to the majors. And maybe MLB can oversee Rawlings’ plant in China with the same scrutiny it recently introduced in Costa Rica.

After all, shouldn’t that little white sphere be the same piece of equipment no matter where baseball is played? Should players really be able to notice a difference?

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