Pitchers using foreign substances

[MrTPlush]

I’m going to be very upset if our pitchers start sucking now

 

Kind of unfortunate our team strength is pitching. While it probably helps our offense if opposing pitchers do it less, some of our hitters couldn't hit it if you put it on a tee.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Bauer’s fastball spin rate was apparently down quite a bit from his season average in his start today.

 

Tweet from Jorge Castillo:

 

Trevor Bauer’s average four-seam fastball spin rate this season entering today: 2,835 RPM.

 

Bauer’s average spin rate on 18 four-seam fastballs through three innings today: 2,613 RPM.

 

That’s 222 RPM below average.

 

 

Dave Roberts said it's not cheating to use an illegal substance if the rule isn't being enforced....lol

[CheezWizHed]

Dave Roberts said it's not cheating to use an illegal substance if the rule isn't being enforced....lol

 

If I were an IRS agent, I know who would be getting some special attention...

[markedman5]

Relevant article in the Athletic on the subject

 

https://theathletic.com/2638161/2021/06/07/rosenthal-umpire-joe-west-on-new-sticky-substance-enforcement-player-reaction-and-potential-pushback/

[pitchleague]

Couldn’t they just assign a fifth umpire to every game—who is also a part of the home-plate, third base, second base, first base rotation—that goes over to each pitching team’s dugout when a pitcher leaves the field and does the inspection? The game can continue as normal while the inspection occurs and, if there’s anything discovered, the crew chief is called and over.

 

I would think the umpire’s union would be on board with this as it would create at least 15 more major league positions.

[folly412]

Couldn’t they just assign a fifth umpire to every game—who is also a part of the home-plate, third base, second base, first base rotation—that goes over to each pitching team’s dugout when a pitcher leaves the field and does the inspection? The game can continue as normal while the inspection occurs and, if there’s anything discovered, the crew chief is called and over.

 

I would think the umpire’s union would be on board with this as it would create at least 15 more major league positions.

 

[sarcasm]Would he have to run his fingers through Burnes' hair?[/sarcasm]

[Roderick]

Couldn’t they just assign a fifth umpire to every game—who is also a part of the home-plate, third base, second base, first base rotation—that goes over to each pitching team’s dugout when a pitcher leaves the field and does the inspection? The game can continue as normal while the inspection occurs and, if there’s anything discovered, the crew chief is called and over.

 

I would think the umpire’s union would be on board with this as it would create at least 15 more major league positions.

 

[sarcasm]Would he have to run his fingers through Burnes' hair?[/sarcasm]

 

I know why it is in blue, but realistically if they started checking gloves and hats, players would just put it somewhere else.

 

Might have to have TSA come in and train the umpires on how to search a body. (half blue, as we don't really know if the TSA is that good either - maybe border agents?)

[DuWayne Steurer]

Well... Even if they put their "stuff" somewhere else, umpire crews are regularly going to check the game used baseballs. If you're putting material on the ball, you're gonna run the risk of getting busted.

[Roderick]

Well... Even if they put their "stuff" somewhere else, umpire crews are regularly going to check the game used baseballs. If you're putting material on the ball, you're gonna run the risk of getting busted.

 

Supposedly they are already doing this and nothing has come from it. Yet...

[KeithStone53151]

Well... Even if they put their "stuff" somewhere else, umpire crews are regularly going to check the game used baseballs. If you're putting material on the ball, you're gonna run the risk of getting busted.

 

Supposedly they are already doing this and nothing has come from it. Yet...

 

I know MLB is getting their hands on balls used by every pitcher and evaluating them. But how often does a pitcher put a ball in the dirt and the ump gets their hands on said ball? It sounds like the sticky stuff problem is so blatant and obvious that these umps all know whats going on, and will be able to tell if there's a problem the instant they touch a baseball.

 

It'll certainly be an interesting few weeks to see if offense picks up, if some suspensions start happening, if pitchers start coming up with creative ways to continue to use the sticky stuff.

[jerichoholicninja]

How much stuff are guys using? I can't imagine that they are using enough of it on their fingers than any noticeable trace is left on the ball. And if they are I can't imagine trying to throw a ball like that. I don't think there would be any consistency as to when the ball would leave your fingers and you'd have no feel for your release point. Then again, maybe that's what they're doing and why so many guys are getting hit now.

[Sixtofan]

. How much stuff are guys using? I can't imagine that they are using enough of it on their fingers than any noticeable trace is left on the ball. And if they are I can't imagine trying to throw a ball like that. I don't think there would be any consistency as to when the ball would leave your fingers and you'd have no feel for your release point. Then again, maybe that's what they're doing and why so many guys are getting hit now.

 

But they are. There are videos online of guys in the dugouts picking up a foul ball and showing how it sticks to their hand. There is a crazy amount of goop on some of the balls.

[MrTPlush]

How much stuff are guys using? I can't imagine that they are using enough of it on their fingers than any noticeable trace is left on the ball. And if they are I can't imagine trying to throw a ball like that. I don't think there would be any consistency as to when the ball would leave your fingers and you'd have no feel for your release point. Then again, maybe that's what they're doing and why so many guys are getting hit now.

 

They were suppose to be sending them to a science lab to analyze them. I presume there they can find pretty small traces of stuff.

 

John Means uses a solid glob though:

[Eye Black]

How much stuff are guys using? I can't imagine that they are using enough of it on their fingers than any noticeable trace is left on the ball. And if they are I can't imagine trying to throw a ball like that. I don't think there would be any consistency as to when the ball would leave your fingers and you'd have no feel for your release point. Then again, maybe that's what they're doing and why so many guys are getting hit now.

This is how the Sports Illustrated article begins...

 

One ball made its way into an NL dugout last week, where players took turns touching a palm to the sticky material coating it and lifting the baseball, adhered to their hand, into the air. Another one, corralled in a different NL dugout, had clear-enough fingerprints indented in the goo that opponents could mimic the pitcher’s grip. A third one, also in the NL, was so sticky that when an opponent tried to pull the glue off, three inches of seams came off with it.

[jerichoholicninja]

My goodness to those stories. I can't believe you have any feel for what you're doing with that much stuff on the ball but I guess it's working.

[homer]

How much stuff are guys using? I can't imagine that they are using enough of it on their fingers than any noticeable trace is left on the ball. And if they are I can't imagine trying to throw a ball like that. I don't think there would be any consistency as to when the ball would leave your fingers and you'd have no feel for your release point. Then again, maybe that's what they're doing and why so many guys are getting hit now.

This is how the Sports Illustrated article begins...

 

One ball made its way into an NL dugout last week, where players took turns touching a palm to the sticky material coating it and lifting the baseball, adhered to their hand, into the air. Another one, corralled in a different NL dugout, had clear-enough fingerprints indented in the goo that opponents could mimic the pitcher’s grip. A third one, also in the NL, was so sticky that when an opponent tried to pull the glue off, three inches of seams came off with it.

 

I've seen Tyler Glasnow breeze through 3+ innings and then all of a sudden start spiking pitches into the dirt five feet in front of the catcher. Maybe got a little too much goo on the ball?

[Baldkin]

Couldn’t they just assign a fifth umpire to every game—who is also a part of the home-plate, third base, second base, first base rotation—that goes over to each pitching team’s dugout when a pitcher leaves the field and does the inspection? The game can continue as normal while the inspection occurs and, if there’s anything discovered, the crew chief is called and over.

 

I would think the umpire’s union would be on board with this as it would create at least 15 more major league positions.

 

[sarcasm]Would he have to run his fingers through Burnes' hair?[/sarcasm]

 

I know why it is in blue, but realistically if they started checking gloves and hats, players would just put it somewhere else.

 

Might have to have TSA come in and train the umpires on how to search a body. (half blue, as we don't really know if the TSA is that good either - maybe border agents?)

 

[Baldkin]

Is this why none of our SS can throw to 1B? The ball just gets stuck to their hands?

[Eye Black]

Here’s the Twitter video of Gerrit Cole’s answer when asked whether he’s ever used Spider Tack.

[Eye Black]

For more on Spider Tack here’s a passage from this great article in The Athletic, Spider Tack is the stickiest stuff in baseball’s foreign-substance controversy. Its inventor had no idea:

 

“Get Spider Tack out of the game and I don’t care about anything else,” an MLB pitcher said, singling out a substance so spectacularly tacky that it suddenly has expanded beyond its initial market (strongmen lifting Atlas Stones) to a much larger one (pitchers hurling five-ounce baseballs).

 

..........

 

Spider Tack represents the logical extreme in an arms race for better spin and nastier movement that has gone, to this point, unchecked by the league. Until a crackdown comes, Spider Tack is still one smear on the artist’s palette that is a pitcher’s glove. Pine tar, a sunscreen-and-rosin mixture and bubble-gum spit are more commonly used, another MLB pitcher said, but Spider Tack is easy to hide and wickedly effective. It’s almost too sticky — it takes WD-40 or baby oil to get it off your fingers. “Spider Tack is there to have on your glove for when you need that slider or heater to really rip,” the pitcher said.

[JosephC]

Here’s the Twitter video of Gerrit Cole’s answer when asked whether he’s ever used Spider Tack.

 

Cole has a good future in American politics once his playing days are over.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Here’s the Twitter video of Gerrit Cole’s answer when asked whether he’s ever used Spider Tack.

 

That was hilarious.

[Sixtofan]

The long silences and the eye blinking really convinced me of his innoncence.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The "I don't know how to answer that, to be honest", was what convinced me that Gerrit Cole has never doctored a ball, specifically with Spider Tack.

[Oxy]

The "I don't know how to answer that, to be honest", was what convinced me that Gerrit Cole has never doctored a ball, specifically with Spider Tack.

 

Ryan Braun agrees!

 

I'm waiting for somebody who ACTUALLY DOESN'T use any substances to come out and say that they use everything they possibly can to get an advantage just to mess with the MLB enforcers.