Agent Scott Boras takes shot at MLB VP over foreign substance rules

Boras’ point is not that regulating foreign substances is unnecessary. He explicitly says the opposite. The issue, as he describes it, is that pitchers have been taught for years by clubs to throw pitches with substances that have abruptly been banned. Boras also questioned the enforcement of some of the rules, citing a hypothetical example of a batter who legally uses pine tar and gets some on the baseball, leading to a pitcher’s ejection.

Boras’ point is similar to the one made by Tyler Glasnow, who essentially said MLB’s abrupt midseason crackdown led to his arm injury. The argument is that players were taught to throw the ball a certain way, and now they have to change on the fly. On one hand, it’s their own fault for using illegal substances. On the other hand, it’s not as if MLB has been enforcing those rules up until now.