Cubs manager Joe Maddon is perplexed by the number of home runs he's seeing this year.
After the Cubs' 7-3 win over the White Sox on Wednesday — which included five home runs in the first four innings — Maddon said he couldn't believe the way the ball is jumping off the bat in baseball today.
"I don't know what I'm witnessing, but the way the ball is coming off the bat right now is extraterrestrial," Maddon told reporters (via NBC Sports Chicago). "It's an E.T. thing going on out there. It's crazy. This is my fifth year (with the Cubs), and I know what I've seen. Whenever the wind is blowing in like that, you don't see that. You don't see that."
It was an unusually chilly night at Wrigley Field as temperatures were in the mid-50s with light rain and breezes blowing in from left field at 7 mph — leaving Maddon even more perplexed.
"Difficult conditions, but again — wind blowing in at a gale, it seemed, balls flying out easily," Maddon said. "The home run that (James) McCann hit, my God, that just took off. You could actually see it from the field. You watch the flags (blowing in), it gets there, then all of a sudden it took off like a UFO. It stood still, then it took off. The first home run of the game, the first pitch, I mean my god, that ball went far."
James McCann rips his third home run in the last four games!#VoteMcCann: https://t.co/YDVa3Wfc7e pic.twitter.com/2CG2Vu58eE
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 20, 2019
Asked his thoughts on the baseballs Wednesday night, Cubs starter Jon Lester said: "No comment."
"We can sit here and talk until we're blue in the face about the ball. It is what it is," added Lester, who worked around two home runs for the win. "Every pitcher in the big leagues has to pitch with it. You can comment on it all you want, but it just sounds like an excuse. I don't make excuses. Gotta make better pitches."