OPINION: MLB Substance Crackdown Necessary, Even If Ill-Timed

The Major League Baseball crackdown on foreign substances used on baseballs by pitchers is absolutely reactive, but that does not make it any less necessary.

The internal memo released last week to all 30 teams received a mixed reaction at best from players and other league personnel. According to various reports on its contents, pitchers will be checked at various points in the game for foreign substances, and could face fines and suspensions if it is determined they are using a foreign substance.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow claimed that the crackdown forced him to entirely change his grip, which he said led to his diagnosis of a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor tendon strain. He claimed the only foreign substance he had been using was sunscreen, which he said was only to maintain a grip on the baseball. The resulting change in grip according to Glasnow increased the strain on his muscles, or as he put it, he was “choking the s---” out of all of his pitches. He argued that the midseason change was detrimental for pitchers, and could lead to more injuries like his.

“Do it in the offseason. Give us a chance to adjust to it. But I just threw 80 innings, then you tell me I can’t use anything in the middle of the year. I have to change everything I’ve been doing the entire season. I’m telling you I truly believe that’s why I got hurt,” Glasnow said.

Not all pitchers are apparently as vehemently opposed however, including Milwaukee Brewers hurler Brandon Woodruff. He said via Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy that pitchers will get used to the added checks during the game, and downplayed the plight of anyone having to change their ways.

“You don’t forget how to throw a baseball,” Woodruff told McCalvy.

Assuming Glasnow’s case is not the canary in the coal mine for these sudden changes, there is reason to believe they could do something about what remains one of the worst hitting seasons in recorded baseball history. The Ringer reported as of Tuesday that the six lowest spin rate days, as measured by both rotations per minute (RPM) and “Bauer units” (RPM/MPH) of the season have occurred since June 8. This is hardly coincidental, as news of the crackdown on substances began to leak before the memo was released.

What does this mean for hitting? Well, fewer rotations hopefully leads to more of an equilibrium being achieved between the dominant pitching we have seen this season and a futile league-wide batting average.