Pirates' Andrew McCutchen Addresses Difference in Baseballs

The dead-ball era refers to the time period from 1900 to 1920, where scoring and home runs were much lower than in the following years. Overuse of balls, big ball parks, pitchers modulating balls and other reasons contributed to the lack of scoring and dingers.

Scoring is down from last season, but from just 4.39 runs to 4.32 runs per game. Home runs also aren't as high as 2024, but by a small margin at 1.12 to 1.09, according to Baseball-Reference.

The Pirates have struggled hitting home runs, hitting just 50 home runs, second least in the MLB, with only the Kansas City Royals lower at 46 home runs.

McCutchen has hit seven home runs this season and also moved up to third on the Pirates all-time list, after his No. 241 home run, which came vs. the Miami Marlins at PNC Park on June 11.

He noted after the game that he was surprised he hit the home run, as he and his teammates haven't gotten the normal length they usually hit the ball at, wondering if the baseballs were different than previous years.

“I was like, ‘That’s probably not going out,'" McCutchen said. "Ball hasn’t been too fair for us here. But I hit it and I was like, ‘Yeah, great contact, but probably not going out. Just hope he doesn’t catch it.’ Yeah I saw him turn his back and I was like, ‘Alright, at least I hit it over his head. It’s probably going off the wall and just get to second base.’ And yeah, I didn’t see it ricochet off of anything and that was about the time I touched first [base] and yeah, it was out.

"The whole time I was more in disbelief that the ball went out than anything because I mean, we’ve hit some balls, and I have myself here, that it just seems like the ball just doesn’t go. So, maybe it’s a new batch of baseballs, but it was more that, like, ‘Oh. It got out.’ and I was like, ‘Alright. Thank God that’s over and thank God I did it here and alright, I ain’t gotta worry about anymore or think about it.’”