MLB suspects more cheating, will increase sticky stuff checks
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PORT ST. LUCIE — It’s possible baseball’s crackdown on sticky substances didn’t stick, so the league is taking further action.
MLB attempted to eliminate foreign substances from pitchers last season, which led to a plunge in spin rates for the first few weeks of inspections — but was followed by a bounce-back in spin rates for much of the second half of the season.
So this year, the league is taking extra precautions to check if a pitcher is using anything to help him get a firmer grip on the ball.
As Sports Illustrated first reported and The Post confirmed, a memo was sent out from the league to teams Friday that stated the check-ups will return, and this season an umpire will inspect a pitcher’s hands. During the random, between-inning inspections, umps can still scan the hat, belt and glove, which they did last season beginning in June.
Taijuan Walker showed both sides of his hands to umpire John Tumpane as he came off the mound after the first inning Saturday. The Mets starter had not been directly told about the tweak, but he learned about it through Twitter.
“No one knew about it,” said Walker, who pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut. “[The ump] just rubbed his thumbs across both hands and top and bottom. … That’s fine.”
Yankees reliever Lucas Luetge had an extended conversation with umpires Saturday after throwing 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings.
“He was just talking through — they started checking today on the gloves,” said manager Aaron Boone, who added that pitchers can choose the type of rosin — the one legal foreign substance — to use this season. “The rosin is more consistent and for the most part the pitchers like it. It’s a pretty good tack to it. Just kind of working through what’s that line? Because you are able to get a little tack and stickiness from it.”
The league intervened to try to inject more action into play, feeling there were too many strikeouts — enabled by extra movement through a better grip on the balls — and not enough batted balls.
If umpires check the hands primarily, the league hopes there will be fewer instances of pitchers feeling invaded.
“We want to thank the players for their cooperation last season and the umpires for doing an outstanding job of carrying out enforcement of the rule with great professionalism,” said Michael Hill, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations. “We saw a clear positive impact on the field with more balls in play, more action in the game, more runs scored and a return to the art of pitching with fewer strikeouts. We are encouraged the game moved in the right direction towards the version of baseball that our fans have told us they want to see.
“Moving forward, umpires have been given additional guidance to help them determine whether a pitcher’s hand or fingers contain a foreign substance in violation of the rules, which will make inspections more effective, and less invasive.”
Starting pitchers and relievers will be checked at least once per game. If an inspection finds that a pitcher’s hand is sticky or contains signs of a foreign substance, the pitcher will be automatically ejected and suspended.
Only Arizona’s Caleb Smith and Seattle’s Hector Santiago were suspended for foreign substances last season.
“It’s a very competitive business. People are constantly trying to push the envelope,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said.
Gerrit Cole, who is among the best spinners in baseball and who avoided a question last year about whether he had used spider tack in the past, has been one of the faces of the crackdown.
“It’s ancient history,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said when asked if he was concerned about the crackdown. “They already put that in place, what, a year ago? … Obviously [the umpires] got to do their job.”
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin and Greg Joyce in Tampa
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