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Taro's picture

Yup. NPB standardized the balls in 2011. Before teams could use whatever they wanted and it led to crazy park factors (one reason Hiroki Kuroda was so impressive in that context).
The new ball is closer to the MLB ball. Wider seams, denser, larger, less rubber material around the core.
It may be even more pitcher friendly than MLB's standardized ball, but theres no way to know without a direct comparison.
It certainly looks like the offensive decline of NPB hitters transitioning over had more to due with a juiced ball than the level of pitchng.

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