Darryl Strawberry
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

New York Mets and Yankees legend Darryl Strawberry isn’t buying into the idea that MLB baseballs are now getting juiced for more home runs.

There’s a new theory going around in Major League Baseball about the league juicing the baseballs. Some pitchers, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers, believe the league is tweaking the balls to increase the number of home runs hit.

However, there are some players that don’t believe it at all. They either see no change in the baseballs or just don’t believe the league would do something like that. One of these players is retired New York Mets and New York Yankees right fielder Darryl Strawberry.

“I wouldn’t know, because I’m not hitting,” Strawberry told Fox Business. “But I can tell you one thing, I think the ballparks are a little smaller than they used to be and I think the guys are a lot stronger.

“I don’t really think they’re juicing the baseball but, like I said before, I really couldn’t tell because I am not facing any pitches. I think pitching is not what it used to be, and guys get a better chance to hit home runs when your pitching is not as good as it used to be.”

Earlier this week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred denied the juicing of the baseballs to the media at the All-Star break festivities in Cleveland.

Even if Manfred and the MLB aren’t intentionally juicing the balls, it’s clear that something strange is going in baseball today. Balls are flying out of ballparks at a record pace. Whether it has something to do with the balls, the pitching in today’s game, or the infatuation with launch angle, MLB needs to figure out what is going on.

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Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.