All you need to know about the new measures taken by the MLB to ensure the pitchers don’t use sticky-stuff in games.
In the year 2023, MLB has it on their agenda to step up their enforcement of the league’s rules on foreign substances. According to The Athletic, on Thursday, Michael Hill, vice president of the MLB sent a memo to all 30 clubs advising them that umpires have been encouraged to increase the number of foreign-substance checks they perform this season. On June 21, 2021, inspections for the presence of foreign substances were put into place.
The following information pertains to the increased foreign substance checks that have been implemented by MLB:
The checks of the hands and fingers of pitchers, which were started during the previous season, will be more comprehensive than the often superficial exams that umpires carried out during the previous year. In contrast to the previous year, when examinations of starting pitchers were often carried out after the same innings in each game, these inspections would also be conducted in a more haphazard manner.
It is also possible for umpires to resume scrutinizing the caps, gloves, and belts worn by pitchers. This was a procedure that umpires carried out in 2021, but they stopped doing it in 2022 in favor of doing more streamlined examinations of hands and fingers. The most important change would be that umpires would be given the authority to conduct more thorough inspections of pitchers than they have in the past.
In the 2017 big league baseball season, 871 different players threw at least one pitch, and not a single one of them was found to be using an illegal substance. It would be naïve to suppose that this completely eliminates the possibility of introducing foreign drugs into the system. It indicates that there is a lack of enforcement, thus MLB is working to ramp it back up.
Pitchers utilized artificial substances in the past so that they could “doctor” the ball and cause it to move in an unnatural way, or just obtain a better grip on the ball to increase their control. Pitchers have been known to use foreign substances, also known as “sticky stuff,” as a weapon in recent years to achieve extremely high spin rates and movement. It has been a factor in the rise in the number of strikeouts that have occurred during the game.
Strict measures will be taken by the MLB to avoid unfair means
The Major League Baseball’s (MLB) crackdown on foreign substances, which began in 2021 and will include several new wrinkles this year, was recently outlined in a memo that was issued to all 30 teams. One of these new wrinkles encourages umpires to inspect pitchers with greater “frequency and scope.”
In order to stop pitchers from “doctoring” the ball and gaining an unfair advantage through the use of grip-enhancers like pine tar and “Spider Tack,” MLB Vice President Mike Hill has instructed umpires to conduct random spot checks. In previous years, players were only inspected between innings. This change will prevent pitchers from gaining an unfair advantage through the use of grip-enhancers like pine tar and “Spider Tack.” In addition, umpires have been given the authority to eject players for engaging in “suspicious” behaviour, which includes keeping a vigilant eye out for wiping and repeated hat-touching, as well as other telltale signs.
Even though MLB’s initial crusade against banned substances was criticised by pitchers as being intrusive and completely unnecessary (in protest, Max Scherzer famously showed up an umpire by submitting his belt for inspection), only two players—Hector Seattle’s Santiago and Diamondbacks lefty Caleb Smith (now of the Pirates)—were actually disciplined, and both received a 10-game suspension for their involvement. According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, spin rates, which are measured in revolutions per minute or RPM, returned to normal last season after a noticeable drop-off in 2021. This suggests that pitchers had returned to the sticky stuff, either by anticipating checks or crafting clever workarounds to conceal their use.
In the current state of baseball, hitting is difficult enough without pitchers adding more product to the ball than Pauly D’s hair. However, some would argue that substances such as Spider Tack and others (Rosin and sunblock, when used in the right quantities, can be equally effective) are a necessary evil because they give pitchers an added level of control that is necessary to prevent injuries to opposing hitters.
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