•Archive: MLB’s Foreign-substance Checks and Questions of Power
MLB has begun checking pitchers for banned substances, but it’s about more than cheating.
Jun 25, 2021
On Tuesday, MLB began enforcing its foreign-substance check pitching protocols in an effort to remove “sticky stuff” from the game. According to Anthony Castrovince, here’s how the in-game inspections work:
Starting pitchers will have more than one mandatory check per game, and each relief pitcher must be checked either at the conclusion of the inning in which he entered the game or when he is removed from the game (whichever occurs first). In general, inspections will be conducted between innings or after pitching changes to avoid a delay of the game and to allow the umpire to perform a thorough check, including the hat, glove and fingertips of the pitcher.
While many (including Bud Black) have agreed that enforcement was needed, the middle-of-the-season timing was problematic and, some suggested, might facilitate pitcher injuries.
But on Tuesday, the inspections began, and Baseball Twitter was alive with video of various pitchers as they experienced their first TSA-like searches.
Jacob deGrom went first:
SNY @SNYtv
deGrom expresses both bemusement and compliance as the umpire checks deGrom’s glove and hat and then his belt. He is the best pitcher alive — he has a godlike ERA of 0.50 and has struck out 117 while walking 10. In one sense, the inspection makes sense. Can anyone pitch like deGrom has been pitching without something extra? In another, it’s a very public questioning of both his integrity and his skill. MLB has effectively diminished a pitcher having an historic season. As for deGrom, he is good natured about it, but everything about the process seems uncomfortable.
Then things got complicated.
Max Scherzer is, well, Max Scherzer, a pitcher known for his intensity. Early in the game against the Phillies, he was irritated by the checks but submitted, his body language one big “are you serious?” As the game progressed, he grew increasingly agitated.
Baseball America @BaseballAmerica
If deGrom’s behavior is a courteous submission, Scherzer’s is a physical confrontation. He looks like a suspect being frisked by police as he holds up his hands and unbuttons his pants. In both cases, these future Hall-of-Fame pitchers are being subjected to a kind of public humiliation and a violation of their personal space.
That seemed difficult to top until it was Sergio Romo’s turn:
Chris Halicke @ChrisHalicke
Romo’s contempt is clear as he takes off his belt and throws it at the umpire’s feet, and his decision to disrobe calls attention to the invasiveness of the exercise.
Pitching Ninja captured the absurdity of the moment.
Rob Friedman @PitchingNinjaMax Scherzer vs. Sergio Romo, Mechanics.
As for the Rockies, Kyle Freeland seems quietly embarrassed:
RoxGifsVids @RoxGifsVids
Freeland offers to the umpire his glove and hat, waits for the pat down, and then grins at his teammates in the dugout as he leaves the field.
I found all of this to be uncomfortable. Clearly, these inspections received attention because they were new, but it was impossible to deny the humiliation of both the pitchers and the umpires as fans watched.
Obviously, the process is designed to catch pitchers giving themselves an unfair advantage, but it is also undeniably an exercise in public humiliation. After all, Commissioner Rob Manfred isn’t having his person inspected, and he’s not the umpire forced to check the belt of a player. The cameras do the dirty work while fans watch.
Manfred considered Tuesday a success. (Others disagree.) As he told Brittany Ghirolion Wednesday, “My view is the first two days have gone very well. We’ve had no ejections (for foreign substances), players in general have been extremely cooperative, the inspections have taken place quickly and between innings.”
She asked Manfred about televising the inspections to which he said,
“In putting the plan together, we tried to come up with a plan that was as unobtrusive as possible given the practicalities of the game and the need to move the game along. We thought the checks between innings was a good way to de-escalate them, maybe is the right word (to use). I don’t think practically we can tell broadcast partners to not cover something that’s on the field.”
Who is MLB to tell networks what to broadcast? The inherent public humiliation seems more a feature than a bug.
The image that stayed with me was this one of Max Scherzer:
JPDAILYSPORTS @JCPGATASticky situation: Scherzer, Romo and Harper's hair headline wild 20 hours in MLB: The MLB sticky stuff mandate is here and it's going, well, interestingly. From Max Scherzer and Sergio Romo's priceless reactions to name-calling and a Joe Girardi… dlvr.it/S2Kp6k
Obviously, professional athletes — especially straight white male professional athletes — are some of the most privileged people alive. I’m not here to argue about that, except to say that these inspections take larger-than-life baseball players and publicly violate their physical space in an effort to police them. In doing this, MLB undercuts the power that players have earned for themselves and invests it in MLB as an enforcer of fairness. That is, MLB positions itself as the parent while pitchers are forced into the role of unruly children.
The shift is significant. After all, baseball, like everything, is about power.
Does something need to be done about banned substances in baseball? Yes.
But this isn’t it.
Down on the Farm
- Ryan Castellani, a 2014 second-round draft pick who struggled with control issues, is no longer with the Rockies. Read more about Bernardo Flores Jr. here.
Rockies Club Information @RockiesClubInfo
- Joe Harvey cannot catch a break, despite earning an ERA of 2.63 in 13.2 innings, striking out 20, and walking five. I assume the Rockies are hoping he’ll make it through waivers, but given the dearth of MLB pitching now, that may not happen.
MiLB-Transactions @tombaseball29
#Rockies have designated RHP Joe Harvey for assignment.
- Meanwhile, the Rockies are signing lefty pitchers to MiLB contracts again:
MiLB-Transactions @tombaseball29
#Rockies have signed LHP Cole Stringer to a minor league contract.
- Vincent Ginardi takes a look at five of the Rockies’ most promising prospects.
- J. J. Cooper examines the franchises with the best MiLB records. The Rockies are 26th with a record of 73-101.
Old Friends
- Daniel Descalso has elected to become a free agent.
MLB News Network @newsnetworkmlb
Daniel Descalso has opted out of his contract with the #MNTwins.
What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To
- Mark Kiszla’s “With Trevor Story Finally Crushing the Baseball, It’s Time for the Rockies to Trade the Shortstop While He’s Hot” (Denver Post) — There’s a lot more going on here than your typical trade-speculation article.
- Nick Groke’s “A New Week, a New Departure as Rockies Lose Another Member of Their Front Office” (The Athletic) — This time, it’s farm director Zach Wilson,
- Manny Randhawa & Sarah Langs’ “Road Woes: The Rockies Bizarre 2021 Journey”(MLB.com) — We know the Rockies are having an unusual season. Randhawa and Langs explore just how odd it is.
- Renee Dechert’s “MLB Releases All-Star Game Uniforms” (Purple Row) — They’re not good.
- Andy McCullough’s “The Tampa Bay Rays’ Player-centric, Ruthless Paradox: ‘You Can’t Knock It Because They Win’” (The Athletic) — This is a fascinating piece about the workings of baseball’s most efficient franchise. (There is no way the Rockies are ever instituting the Rays’ philosophy — at least under current ownership.)
- And this is a cool thing I learned this week. The Rays have players pronounce their names:
Mike Petriello @mike_petriello
The Rays have this super cool pronunciation guide on their site (mlb.com/rays/team/pron…) with audio clips from the players themselves, and this one feels like it's going to be much-needed today:
The complete guide is here. All teams should do this.
Weekend Walk-off
No one doubts that Germán Márquez had a terrific outing against the Mariners on Wednesday, but a pitcher knows they’ve made it when they receive attention from Pitching Ninja. This is, in my opinion, some of Ninja’s best work:
German Marquez: Just Killed a Man. 🎼💀🪦
After the game, Trevor Story, who hit two home runs during that game, said he and Marquez were sharing the MVP Chain. That’s good, but Story didn’t get his home runs set to Queen.
Advantage: Marquez.
Thanks for reading —
Renee
1 There is an important essay to be written about the intersection of race and gender in these inspections, but I lack the background (both personal and academic) to write it.