MLB pitchers' using 'extra-grip substance' at increasing rate: Report
Is baseball coming to another reckoning?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Baseball’s steroid era had a negative effect on the game may even keep some of the game’s best home run hitters out of the Hall of Fame due to its effects and the stain it left.
One executive told The Athletic in a story published Monday that pitchers are going through their own phase to gain an edge on batters who are hitting more home runs than ever. According to the report, most pitchers in the majors are using some kind of “extra-grip substance” to get a better handle on the ball.
“It’s better than steroids,” a player development executive told the outlet.
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Another coach added: “Almost everyone is using something.”
Free-agent pitcher Trevor Bauer wrote about the substances in The Players’ Tribune in February.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“For eight years I’ve been trying to figure out how to increase the spin on my fastball because I’d identified it way back then as such a massive advantage,” the former Cincinnati Reds ace wrote. “I knew that if I could learn to increase it through training and technique, it would be huge. But eight years later, I haven’t found any other way except using foreign substances.”
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While home runs have gone up in baseball over the last few years, so have strikeouts. The Athletic reported that fastballs are spinning faster than ever. About 20% of pitchers have a spin rate above 2400 rpm, according to the report.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“This has absolutely changed the way we have to approach hitting,” one major league batter told The Athletic. “We have to deal with more ride. We have to deal with more break.”
The report said the problem is rampant in baseball and that enforcing rules is difficult.
“Pressure is on in the league,” another coach said. “Front offices value spin and velo. If everyone around you is getting favoritism from the front office and having higher success rates because they are using sticky stuff, then you’ll most likely start to learn how to use it.”
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Use of a foreign substance is against MLB bylaws.
In August, the Reds’ pitching staff had the highest 4-seam spin rate with 2,489 rpm. The Miami Marlins, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers rounded out the top 5. The Brewers and Reds were among the top in total strikeouts
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bauer led the league with 2,827 RPMs on his 4-seam spin rate. He finished third in strikeouts with 100 and third in K/9 averaging 12.329 strikeouts per nine innings.