Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that any pitcher caught using or possessing foreign substances will be given an automatic 10-game suspension beginning Monday, June 21, and that team employees may also be suspended or fined for substances found in their clubhouse or dugout.
Starting pitchers will be checked more than once per game for any foreign substances, while relievers will be checked at least once.
“After a thorough process of repeated warnings to no effect, information gathering from current and former players and others in the sport, two months of comprehensive data collection, listening to our fans and thoughtful deliberations ” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. I have determined that new enforcement of foreign substance laws is necessary to level the playing field.
“I understand that there is a history of the use of foreign substances on the ball, but what we are seeing today is objectively very different, with much stickier substances being used more frequently than ever before. It has become clear that The use of foreign substances has generally shifted from trying to get a better grip on the ball to something else – an unfair competitive advantage that creates a lack of action and an uneven playing field.
The only substance allowed by pitchers to aid their grip will be a rosin bag, while disputing the theory that eliminating foreign substances would impair pitchers’ control and increase the number of batters hit by pitches.
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“MLB has recently conducted extensive testing, including testing by third-party researchers, to determine whether the use of foreign substances has a material impact on performance,” MLB said in a statement. “This research concluded that foreign substances significantly increase the spin rate and movement of the baseball, thereby giving pitchers who use these substances an unfair competitive advantage over hitters and pitchers who do not use foreign substances , and lead to less action on the ground.
“Additionally, the consumption of foreign substances appears to contribute to a throwing style in which pitchers sacrifice location for spin and velocity, particularly when it comes to high fastballs. The evidence does not suggest a correlation between improved batting safety and the use of foreign substances. In fact, the strike rate per pitch has increased alongside the prevalence of foreign substance use: through May 31, the 2021 season has the highest strike rate per pitch of any season in the last 100 years.
MLB believes the crackdown should bolster the offense based on the offensive surge over the past two weeks, once MLB told owners a crackdown would begin soon.
Hitters are hitting a season-high .247 with a .318 on-base percentage and .419 slugging percentage in June, up from .236/.312/.395 the first two months.
The pitcher turnover rate last week was the lowest of the season. There have been several notable decreases in turnover rates in recent weeks, involving departures from Trevor Bauer and Kenley Jansen from the Los Angeles Dodgers to Gerrit Cole from the New York Yankees to closer Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers.
“This is not about any one player or club, nor is it about blame,” Manfred said, “this is about a collective shift that has changed the game and needs to be addressed. We We have a responsibility to our fans and the generational talents competing on the field to eliminate these substances and improve the game.”
This will be the first time umpires will automatically check pitchers for use of foreign substances without managers asking. Position players can also be checked for the presence of foreign substances, preventing them from putting foreign substances on the ball to protect their pitchers.
“Although the foreign substance prohibitions do not apply exclusively to pitchers,” the memo sent to clubs said, “the pitcher will ultimately be responsible for any ball thrown with a foreign substance on it.” If a player other than the pitcher is found to have applied a foreign substance to the ball (for example, the catcher applies a foreign substance to the ball before returning it to the pitcher), the position player and the pitcher will both be ejected and automatically suspended.”
MLB officials realized the current app wasn’t working, so it’s now in the hands of the umpires. They will check pitchers’ uniforms, caps and gloves for any foreign substances, primarily between innings or upon exiting a game.
There hasn’t been a major league pitcher suspended for foreign substances since Will Smith of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 and Brian Matusz of the Baltimore Orioles.
Although players will not lose their salaries in the event of suspension, their team will play shorthanded in their absence. No team may replace a suspended player on the active roster.
Bauer initially called attention to pitcher cheating in 2018, pointing to the Houston Astros’ dramatic increase in turnover rate, and says he is all for enforcement, provided all world is treated the same way.
“That was the goal this whole time,” Bauer said. “Let everyone compete on a level playing field. So if you want to apply it, apply it. And if it doesn’t, stop sweeping it under the rug, like they’ve been doing for four years now. …
“It would be good, as players, to know what rules we are competing by and what rules are going to be applied. As everyone knows, a written rule that is never enforced is not a rule.
From now on this will be enforced.
