Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — Mark your calendars, Dodger fans. As of June 21, 2021, all pitchers are hereby on “double-secret probation” when it comes to foreign substances. After days of speculation, the league announced today its new and improved policy to root out the overuse of any kind of grip-enhancing agents for pitchers.
MLB announced Tuesday that any player who possesses or applies foreign substances to the baseball will be automatically ejected and suspended for 10 games beginning on that date. In fact this is nothing new. Rules banning substances on the ball go back a long way in baseball history. However, the rules have seldom been enforced (unless your name is Gaylord Perry).
Spin Cycle
In fact, many hitters would like the pitchers to have some level of grip-enhancer on the baseball. After all, no-one wants some rookie tossing 98 mile-an-hour gas at his melon. So, the league has looked the other way, in the interests of everyone involved.
But that was before the term “spin-rate” gained any traction. Now, with the hyper-analytic world that baseball is today, pitchers have been getting better and better at spinning a baseball and leaving hitters at a great disadvantage. This is season is case in point. The offense this year has been abysmal: With pitches moving more, batters are hitting just .238 in 2021, the lowest league-wide batting average since the mound was lowered following the 1968 season. And, the 24% strikeout rate this season is the highest in major league history.
Manfred releases statement
Commissioner Rob Manfred released a statement to coincide with the announcement of the increased enforcement measures. “I understand there’s a history of foreign substances being used on the ball, but what we are seeing today is objectively far different, with much tackier substances being used more frequently than ever before,” he stated. “It has become clear that the use of foreign substance has generally morphed from trying to get a better grip on the ball into something else—an unfair competitive advantage that is creating a lack of action and an uneven playing field. This is not about any individual player or Club, or placing blame, it is about a collective shift that has changed the game and needs to be addressed. We have a responsibility to our fans and the generational talent competing on the field to eliminate these substances and improve the game.”
Strict Enforcement
According to a report in Baseball America, the new enforcement regimen will include the following steps, starting next week:
– Starting pitchers will be checked multiple times per game and relievers will be checked either at the conclusion of the inning they entered or when they are removed from the game, whichever occurs first.
– If a player other than the pitcher is found to have applied a foreign substance to the baseball (i.e. a catcher or an infielder), both the position player and pitcher will be automatically ejected and suspended.
– Catchers will also be subject to routine inspections.
– Rosin bags will remain on the back of the mound and be used, but players are prohibited from mixing rosin with sunscreen or any other substance. As part of the memo, pitchers are advised “not to apply sunscreen during night games after the sun has gone down or when playing in stadiums with closed roofs.”
– Any club employee who encourages a player to use foreign substances, including managers and coaches, will be subject to “severe” discipline that includes the possibility of being placed on the Ineligible List.
– Teams may be sanctioned for failing to educate or police their players and staff on the rules and are subject to investigation from MLB in the event of repeat violations.
Dodgers named in SI article
Our beloved Dodgers were one of the teams named in a recent Sport Illustrated article about this suddenly hot topic. According to the data collected by the magazine, “L.A. has by a large margin the highest year-to-year increase of any club in spin rate on four-seam fastballs, which are considered a bellwether pitch. In fact, the Dodgers’ four-seam spin rate is higher than that of any other team in the Statcast era. There is no proof the Dodgers are doctoring baseballs, but nearly across the board, their hurlers’ spin rates on that pitch have increased this season from last.”
Them’s fighting words, my man. Of course it’s possible that the Dodgers are looking to increase their advantage going forward in defense of their World Series title, but just on the face of it, it would be hard to correlate the increased spin on Dodger pitches with more success. Who among the Dodgers is having a better year this year than last? Walker Buehler. And maybe Julio Urias. Kershaw certainly isn’t. Bauer certainly isn’t So it remains to be seen if these innuendos have any truth to them. The capital-T truth is that there has been a lot of fudging with this issue by almost every team. And if this memo and stepped-up enforcement puts EVERY team on the same playing field, it will be a good thing.
Good for the offense. Good for the pitchers. And, ultimately, good for the sport.
