Before the start of the Inaugural Atlantic League West Virginia Power season took place on Tuesday night, a few changes were to be made to start the second half of the season. Orders came down from the league office prior to the season stating that the Independent League would “experiment” with an extended pitching mound. The mound was to be moved back to 61 feet 6 inches; exactly 12 inches from a regulation mound in professional baseball. As batters are striking out at an alarming rate now days, and offense is what most of the crowd is there to witness, the thought process by the “league office” made sense; A little “give the people what they want” type attitude. Some players were on board with the change, others, not so much! The coaching staff would be forbidden to even have an opinion on the matter.
Issues arose from pitchers (obviously) since they would be the ones directly impacted by the change. Everyone else had a more “wait and see” attitude. The primary concern for pitchers was losing velocity off of their fastball. Having to extend the elbow more on anything off speed. Studies have shown that pitchers would in fact lose about 1.5 mph off of any given pitch. Batters, for instance, would have more time to react to the ball. In turn, you get more offensive opportunities at the plate. The box scores over the next couple of nights would absolutely reflect this change with some elevated box scores and runs being put on the board. So what is the end game? Will these changes take affect sooner than later? Will they even be implemented at all? I don’t believe so.
The general consensus around the league is mostly negative. Players who are wanting to play in the winter leagues internationally or players who make it to an actual affiliated squad may have some slight issue adjusting. The leagues players are being used as “test subjects” as one player put it. These are professional baseball players, and they can adapt to any situation, especially with almost 40% of the league having MLB experience. Even with strikeouts up 33% since 2007, this is an unnecessary change. Why is it not being viewed like football, for instance? Players are bred bigger, stronger, and faster. Maybe pitchers are bred the same way? As for now the offense is inflated. You may not see a 2-1 pitchers dual for the remaining second half. Data will be studied, meeting will be had, but will it be enough to keep the root of your product on the field happy? Time will tell.
The West Virginia Power take on the York Revolution for 3 games to wrap up there homestand tonight starting at 7:05pm
Written By: Joshua Petry
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