Major League Baseball’s new uniform designs have taken heat from players and fans alike, and things are clearly not getting better.
Teams have begun holding their annual photo days, in which the standard headshots and other promotional photos that are used throughout the upcoming season are taken. This has given fans the chance to see the uniforms in something akin to real action, and one issue became very clear: the pants are so thin that one can see how far down the tucked-in jersey goes. That was apparent in one photo of Shohei Ohtani posing in his Dodgers uniform.
Lest there be any doubts about whether this was a one-off, the Seattle Mariners’ social media account posted a video of catcher Cal Raleigh telling jokes. The content of the video was quickly overshadowed as fans took note of Raleigh’s pants being virtually transparent.
Nike designed the set of new uniforms, and also switched manufacturing responsibility over to Fanatics. The early reviews from players have not been good, with a lack of quality and cheap look among the primary complaints. This will not help matters, particularly when it comes to the aesthetic complaints. It seems hard to believe that this would be the case by design.
For now, there are no indications that Nike or MLB have any plans to make changes to the uniforms prior to the start of the regular season. They may have no choice but to address the complaints if the backlash continues during spring training, however.
More must-reads: