Sticky substances

They are cracking down on MiLB guys.  Maybe that's a message for MLB players?

https://www.knbr.com/2021/06/0...after-being-ejected/

There are certain high level college pitchers that other teams suspect of doing it.  It is a given that certain pitchers touch a certain place on their uniform before a pitch when a new ball is put in or every so many pitches.  I have wondered why they would not object to it but I've been told that there is almost one pitcher on every college team that does it so if you turn the other team in they will reverse it back on you.  Man code I reckon.

Shildt of the Cardinals told the truth.  It depends upon who you are and the organization you play for.  Some of these pitchers are laughing at MLB and know nothing is going to happen.  The rules need to be enforced.  Right now this has turned the game into a mockery of the game.  On one film review on MLB Central, they showed a pitch going straight sideways from an overhead pitcher.  The following comment was that they could not get a whiffle ball to break like that. 

The absurd amount of spitball like movement MLB pitchers are getting has become a joke. The sticky illegal substances and the shifts have contributed to batting averages that have plunged and sky high strikeout rates. MLB needs to fix this real soon.

I have seen this also creep into the high school level. Faced a pitcher or two this year that it was obvious what was going on.

Oldest son used to keep skittles in his mouth in between innings.  said it made his saliva stickier.  Explains his dental bill.

I don't see how umpires can't see that a pitcher keeps going to the inside of his belt or a particular place on his cap or when you touch the ball it feels sticky.  I don't think the umpires care.

Manfred is a terrible commissioner.  As noted by others above, the stuff going on is obvious and observable, simple to catch in the act, and easy to investigate, easy to put an end to.  He let players cheat to win a World Series, without consequence for god's sake.  It isn't surprising he'd let a little thing like spitballing go on.

I think manfreds plan is to do it like the Mitchell report where you do an investigation but no punishment kinda as a warning and then next year enforce it.

That way you give players enough time to get off the juice to avoid a big scandal with dozens of guys getting caught.

That's why they are collecting caps and balls and Analyse them behind the scenes.

@Dominik85 posted:

I think manfreds plan is to do it like the Mitchell report where you do an investigation but no punishment kinda as a warning and then next year enforce it.

That way you give players enough time to get off the juice to avoid a big scandal with dozens of guys getting caught.

That's why they are collecting caps and balls and Analyse them behind the scenes.

This approach has no deterrent value... hence the fact that they are doing this on the heals of a major cheating scandal without any fear of reprisal.  Once this is resolved he should expect yet another type of cheating scandal since it is obvious he let's them get away with it.

but they punished the Astros....wait never mind.

They lowered the seams.....let them have their sticky.

@Shoveit4Ks posted:

They lowered the seams.....let them have their sticky.

Seriously? ...you'd like to see championship games decided based on who employs the more advanced chemistry mix? You also in favor of trash can banging?

pitchers have been doing it forever. if a pitcher, especially in HS where they aren't likely PO, has "sticky stuff" on his hands, who's to say that it isn't just pine tar from his last AB?  ditto for the NL where pitchers hit.

@mattys posted:

pitchers have been doing it forever. if a pitcher, especially in HS where they aren't likely PO, has "sticky stuff" on his hands, who's to say that it isn't just pine tar from his last AB?  ditto for the NL where pitchers hit.

This is methodical, not some random act of pine tar from their last AB...most relievers never touch a bat and they are throwing nasty, unhittable pitches...

This guy made a video testing spin rate increases using various sticky substances including spider tack, sunscreen/rosin, & pine tar vs no substance. It definitely works.

https://twitter.com/stephapste...801244550213639?s=19

Kid on my sons summer team was using pine tar last night. He should probably figure out how to throw more strikes before trying to get more spin.

10-game ban for foreign substances:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story...d-suspended-10-games

Washington Post says:

Look, my son is a pitcher. He has never used anything, not even rosin. He doesn’t sweat a lot, so I guess that is how he gets away with it. The rules that are on the book should be implemented. Period. Selfishly, I want him to be on a level playing field when competing against other guys and trying to move thru the professional ranks. Just one dad’s opinion.

Question:

have ever thrown a “splitter “? Split ball!

it saves the arm and obtain outs. It is not a metric pitch.
Bob

@younggun posted:

Look, my son is a pitcher. He has never used anything, not even rosin. He doesn’t sweat a lot, so I guess that is how he gets away with it. The rules that are on the book should be implemented. Period. Selfishly, I want him to be on a level playing field when competing against other guys and trying to move thru the professional ranks. Just one dad’s opinion.

The bolded is spot on and reappears through our society over and over again.

Bauer interview last night.

https://twitter.com/SportsNetL.../1404983841568092161

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Kid on my sons summer team was using pine tar last night. He should probably figure out how to throw more strikes before trying to get more spin.

Throwing more strikes is the last thing that lots of young pitchers ever think about.  You can thank social media, travel ball, the showcase circuit, unqualified instructors, and the general obsession with high velo for all that. Usually the rubber meets the road when a pitcher gets to college and if a kid can’t throw strikes he isn’t gonna see the mound. But the other night, in game 3 of a super regional, Notre Dame ran a reliever out there (in a high leverage situation) that was 97 - 98 every pitch - but he couldn’t throw 3 strikes in 7 pitches and the game got away from ND in that inning. SMH

@anotherparent posted:

But the notion of enhanced enforcement appears to have been some kind of deterrent. In the 12 days before June 3, Major League hitters hit .233, walked 9.1 percent of the time, struck out 24.3 percent of the time, and experienced a home run-to-fly ball ratio of 12.7 percent. In the 12 days after, those same hitters hit .246, walked 8.4 percent of the time, struck out 23.3 percent of the time, and experienced a home run-to-fly ball ratio of 14.4 percent.

So 45% of the at-bats have no ball in play (other than HR)... This can't possibly be good for the game.  I know it's competitive sport, but in the end it is really about entertainment.  If it is not entertaining it will lose fans, draw fewer kids to the game, lose revenue and eventually have a bad ending.

@Smitty28 posted:

So 45% of the at-bats have no ball in play (other than HR)... This can't possibly be good for the game.  I know it's competitive sport, but in the end it is really about entertainment.  If it is not entertaining it will lose fans, draw fewer kids to the game, lose revenue and eventually have a bad ending.

Probably,  though that thought reminds me of old-school post-apocalypse science fiction novels, where the obliteration of mankind usually results in some kind of small resurrection of civilization in its purest form.  So maybe baseball goes the way of the velociraptor and soon afterwards returns underground with pickup teams playing with broomsticks and tennis balls and no gloves, and it's more fun to play and to watch.

@JCG posted:

Probably,  though that thought reminds me of old-school post-apocalypse science fiction novels, where the obliteration of mankind usually results in some kind of small resurrection of civilization in its purest form.  So maybe baseball goes the way of the velociraptor and soon afterwards returns underground with pickup teams playing with broomsticks and tennis balls and no gloves, and it's more fun to play and to watch.

Not sure about all that... A better parallel might be soccer, you wait around for an hour and a half for one or two amazing moments.  Or an Evander Holyfield fight where you wait around for an hour and absolutely nothing happens.

Just waiting for the outrage when they start measuring the pine tar on the bat and suspending players for 10 games...  Where's that George Brett gif

@MidAtlanticDad posted:

Bauer interview last night.

https://twitter.com/SportsNetL.../1404983841568092161

He really should be a Player/Commissioner

@MidAtlanticDad posted:

Bauer interview last night.

https://twitter.com/SportsNetL.../1404983841568092161

Bauer is pretty awesome.  He may not be everyone's cup of tea but I find his candor and humor to be really refreshing.  

He's been talking about sticky substances for almost 4 years.  He was against it and then finally said screw it, I'll join them and watch what happens.

Tyler glasnow got a forearm injury that might turn into TJ and blames the rule enforcement for it as that would have required him to change his grip

@Dominik85 posted:

Tyler glasnow got a forearm injury that might turn into TJ and blames the rule enforcement for it as that would have required him to change his grip

Last time I saw Tyler Glasgow pitch his stuff was unhittable. So I would be looking for an excuse too if I was him.

I like the suggestion of Bauer to spray the balls before the game with an approved substance. If that substance allows for some better grip without being super heavy on the spin enhancement it could be a good solution.

Last 10 days league K rate is down a full tick (23.9 - > 22.8) compared to all 2021 and league BA is up 9 points (239 - >248).

Part of it might be warmer weather compared to April and early may but still interesting.

@Dominik85 posted:

Tyler glasnow got a forearm injury that might turn into TJ and blames the rule enforcement for it as that would have required him to change his grip

I believe this.  My son has pronators syndrome which causes forearm tightness.  He has small hands and says he has to grip the ball tight to have control, which causes his arm to tighten up.  If he uses a loose grip, no tightness, but also far less control.  I would think with as hard as guys throw, they would prefer they have more control than less.  The game is being elevated on all levels.  Exit velocity is getting higher, pitch velocity is getting higher.  Guys have to adjust.  Just another elevation of the game.  Learn to hit nasty pitches.

@Dominik85 posted:

Last 10 days league K rate is down a full tick (23.9 - > 22.8) compared to all 2021 and league BA is up 9 points (239 - >248).

Kyle Schwarber's 5 home runs:  "To be honest with you, I don't know what's going on," Schwarber said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story...ake-3-of-4/46291723/

Hm.

A bit more sample size on this now

League batting line
May: 239/315/397 9%bb/24%k, 158 iso
June: 246/320/417 8.8%/23.2%, 171 iso

Maybe there is an effect of the crackdown.

Article about this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com...stuff-baseball-data/

Apparently they tracked 2 million pitches, including 70,000 after June 3, spin rate has dramatically fallen. They also looked at pitcher behavior on video footage, they are rubbing themselves all over trying to get sweat on their hands!