The use of foreign substances by pitchers has become a huge storyline for Major League Baseball this season, and one former hurler has an idea for how the league can address the issue.
Jerry Blevins, who last pitched for the Atlanta Braves two years ago and was in spring training with the New York Mets this season before announcing his retirement, unleashed a lengthy Twitter rant about foreign substances on Monday. The left-hander said it was never an issue when pitchers used sunscreen and rosin to enhance their grip but that things have now gone “too far.” A big reason for that, he says, is that the quality of the baseballs themselves has deteriorated.
Blevins compared using sunscreen and rosin to a basketball player wiping his shoes on the Slipp-Nott mat before entering a game. He said the use of substances like Spider Tack is where the line is crossed, but he thinks MLB could prevent it by ensuring that the baseballs are higher quality.
Blevins didn’t place all of the blame on MLB, however. He said pitchers need to learn more finesse and “take it back a notch” if they can’t control where the ball is going.
MLB reportedly came up with a plan this week for how pitchers will be disciplined if they are caught using a foreign substance. We saw Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole essentially admit recently that he is guilty of doctoring the ball. That combined with Trevor Bauer calling for action probably put more pressure on MLB.
More must-reads: