Baseball has a long history of pitchers doing whatever they can to gain an advantage over the hitter. The spitball was banned in the 1920s, and Gaylord Perry was infamous for doctoring the ball throughout his Hall of Fame career. Joe Niekro was ejected from a 1987 game for having an emery board on the mound, and we've seen other pitchers use things like sandpaper and Vaseline.
The latest is Spider Tack, a sticky substance that was originally designed for World's Strongest Man competitors. It's a benefit to pitchers because it helps the ball stay on their fingers a fraction of a second longer, thus increasing its spin rate. And that increased spin rate is one of the things that has resulted in the increased number of strikeouts across baseball in recent years, which is something MLB is desperate to address.
You knew that with those two factors and the amount they had been talking about it over the past few weeks that, sooner or later, MLB was going to do something about Spider Tack and other grip-enhancers that pitchers commonly use. So it wasn't really a surprise when they announced a crackdown on any and all of those substances. What was surprising, though, is that it was basically effective immediately, giving pitchers virtually no time to adjust.
Not surprisingly, pitchers aren't happy about it. No distinction was made. Any type of foreign substance, whether it's Spider Tack or sunscreen and rosin or anything else, is now illegal. (Use of the rosin bag on the mound always has been, and will remain, legal.) If a pitcher gets caught, it's ejection from the game and a 10-game suspension (during which he can't be replaced on the roster).
This isn't a new rule by the way. Rule 3.01 states: "No player shall intentionally discolor or damage the ball by rubbing it with soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sand-paper, emery-paper or other foreign substance." Rule 6.02(c), meanwhile, lists all of the pitching prohibitions. There are nine of them, most of which deal with the same things listed in Rule 3.01. So, this isn't about creating a new rule. It's about actually enforcing the existing ones.
It's been a few days since MLB sent a memo to all teams explaining the new policy, although enforcement won't begin until next week. The pitchers who use these substances will have until then to adjust. Many have simply quit cold turkey and need to come up with a new grip on the fly. Needless to say, the results have been mixed.
Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, the two highest-paid pitchers in baseball, have both been singled-out by hitters as Spider Tack users. They both struggled in their first start after it became clear a crackdown was coming. They weren't the only ones, though. The Red Sox have seen their team ERA skyrocket. In fact, the leaguewide batting average is up 10 points and the leaguewide spin rate on fastballs has significantly decreased over the past two weeks.
What's worse, though, is that forcing pitchers to make these adjustments midseason could lead to injuries. Rays ace Tyler Glasnow, who used a combination of sunscreen and rosin, suffered a partially torn UCL in his first start after MLB's announcement and will likely need Tommy John surgery. He definitely thinks the fact that not being allowed to do that was one of the reasons, as he was quick to point out in his postgame press conference.
There's plenty of concern throughout baseball that Glasnow won't be the only one. It's not an unfounded fear, either. Arm injuries are fairly common whenever a pitcher tries to change how he throws, whether it be adjusting his arm angle or his grip. Especially since the solution to getting the same spin rate without the foreign substance will likely be throwing harder.
Of course, that's not the only reason pitchers are unhappy. Carlos Rodon of the White Sox was very vocal about the fact that this can yield you a 10-game suspension while the Astros got off scot free after their cheating scandal. It also doesn't sit well with the players that there's no appeals process. It's based entirely on the umpire's judgment. If he determines the pitcher violated the rule, it's automatic.
Another thing that the players (both pitchers and position players) don't like is the fact that everything is being treated the same. They did a survey of player reps from all 30 teams and they all agreed that substances like Spider Tack were over the line, but none had any issue with something like Glasnow's sunscreen/rosin combination. In fact, hitters would like to know that the ball is gonna end up somewhere near the plate, so they'd prefer having pitchers use something to guarantee it does rather than not using anything and having no idea where the ball is going!
Mostly, I think the players would've preferred if there had been some sort of discussion between MLB and the MLBPA. They could've gotten that input and used that to help determine what's allowed and what isn't. In a way, it's like pine tar. Hitters are allowed to use pine tar to grip the bat, but if they use too much, it's illegal. It should be the same for pitchers, who have basically been told they can't use anything to help with their grip.
Then there's the timing. It certainly appears to be a bit of a knee jerk reaction by MLB. Why now? It's the middle of the season! Why did this have to be done immediately? Especially something this significant. Send out the memo and let them know that it's coming so they're prepared for it, then spend the offseason coming up with what the exact policy will be and have it take effect in 2022. That's the option that would've made the most sense.
Instead, the crackdown will begin immediately. It'll likely help MLB's strikeout problem and hopefully lead to more offense, which is likely a big reason why it was done now. But it's definitely gonna be a major adjustment for the pitchers. And we've already seen how much it has impacted them.
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