It’s well documented that Major League Baseball has had a problem with pitchers that doctor baseballs for increased spin rate. This meant that pitchers were using various substances in order to increase their ability to throw harder, thus giving them an extra edge on the mound. For a time, it was was one of the worst kept secrets in baseball as teams wouldn’t dare challenge opposing pitchers for illegal substances because they actually also ran the risk of calling themselves out. Now that it is more than apparent to the typical fan… Major League Baseball is cracking down on foreign substances. This leaves everyone to wonder just how this may effect overall pitching performances in the MLB
The Poster Childs Of MLB’s Complicated Mess
While there are many pitchers that may have used the “sticky stuff”, whatever the substances are, there have been two pitchers that have been used as the face of all this mess, Trevor Bauer of the Dodgers and Gerrit Cole of the Yankees. These two pitchers do have a connection going back to their days pitching for UCLA, however, they are not alike in any way. Bauer is outgoing and advocates for baseball to embrace the newer generation, while Cole is reserved and lets his pitching do the talking for him. Both have been dominant throughout their careers.
Cole was recently asked if he used a substance called spider tack to increase his spin rate. Rather than a simple yes or no, he left a long and complicated answer that left the media more baffled by the whole situation.
On the contrary, his former teammate Trevor Bauer, was completely transparent on the topic on social media last year.
Bauer was already calling out Major League Baseball for the use of illegal substances, even if he was using them himself. Bauer had no punishment for this as this was a growing problem for MLB and raised the question, who is really clean in all this? Now that MLB is throwing down the gavel, players will be suspended 10 games with pay as reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Crossing The Line?
While there have been many supporting the ban on illegal substances like spider tack and whatever else pitchers concoct to get an edge. It was also reported that sunscreen and rosin would also be banned substances and former pitchers sounded off on social media.
The argument that pitchers use sunscreen and rosin for grip, not for spin rate, can be made as we have data to support that argument, but MLB obviously didn’t budge. This could lead to pitchers throwing wildly and accidentally hitting batters when being able to grip a baseball will now become even harder. The rapid adjustment will have to be noticed here as pitchers will have to adapt quickly to the ever-evolving game.
The Steroid Era 2.0
No matter what people think of MLB trying to get a handle on the foreign substance controversy, this should be looked at as the modern-day steroid era. Of course, steroids affect the body and this sticky situation doesn’t, however, when baseball writers are debating these players and their hall of fame legitimacy, this will surely be talked about. The players doing this have been brought and taught this stuff possibly for generations stemming from former players and coaches, but this all comes to an end now.
This should be seen as a good thing for baseball as this is MLB cleaning up its game and really showing who is in fact dominant and who is just trying to hit a big payday. Though the timing is a bit odd, this is just another sign of baseball trying to evolve while still keeping to its authentic roots that many of us have already fallen in love with.