Fans think MLB intentionally juiced balls

Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Dodgers fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.

One of the biggest topics in baseball this season are the baseballs themselves. The question isn’t whether MLB has different baseballs — that’s proven. Rather, the uncertainty lies in whether the change was intentionally made in order to produce more offense and increase interest.

We asked fans from all over the country what they think about this topic, and two-thirds of respondents believe the baseballs are “juiced.”

SB Nation FanPulse results week 21

Batters are on pace to destroy the MLB home run record by nearly 700 homers. The players are estimated to hit a combined 6,774 home runs, crushing the 6,105 record set in 2017.

On an individual team level, the Dodgers are on pace to crush the single-season home run record. Through 124 games, the team has 211 home runs and are projected to hit 42 more dingers than the current record set in 2018.

Cody Bellinger — LA’s slugger this year — recently hit his 40th home run, putting him on pace to hit 52 by the end of September. If he achieves this, he would become the new Dodgers single-season home run leader, passing Shawn Green’s 49 home run season.

The Dodgers pitchers aren’t affected by the “juiced” ball, as one might think. The 1999 squad gave up 192 home runs, eight more than any other season. This year’s staff is calculated to allow 181 homers, which would be two more than 2018 and the fifth-most in franchise history.

Clayton Kershaw talked about the new ball on the Dan Patrick Show earlier this year and said if fans want to see home runs, they should get more home runs.

“It’s really not a big deal,” Kershaw said. “If you make good pitches, you’re going to get guys out. It’s so funny to me that it’s a huge deal and it’s so secretive. Let’s just be honest, it’s not going to change anything. We’re still going to play. It’d be awesome just to know what happened.”

This clip is courtesy of AT&T AUDIENCE Network. The Dan Patrick Show airs daily at 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET on AT&T AUDIENCE Network which can be found on DIRECTV Ch. 239.

As for the rest of the FanPulse results, here is how they turned out:

Do you approve of the job Dave Roberts is doing?

Yes - 92%
No - 8%

Are you confident in the direction of the team?

Yes - 83%
No - 17%

SB Nation FanPulse week 21 results

To the surprise of none, Dodgers fans are still very confident in the team and manager. We’ll let you know if anything changes on that matter.

Remember, you can sign up to participate in the FanPulse surveys at this link! Surveys will go out each week and only take a few minutes to complete. The more, the merrier!

Check back next week for more FanPulse results!