Cubs pitchers navigating new reality after MLB’s foreign substance mandateRussell Dorseyon June 16, 2021 at 12:45 am

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According to MLB’s new guidelines, the penalty for foreign substances being found on a player’s person will result in a 10-game suspension. 

NEW YORK – After weeks of hearing about “sticky stuff” around the game, pitchers have found themselves in different sticky situations with MLB’s announcement of the banning and strict enforcement of foreign substances.

In a memo sent by MLB on Tuesday, the league announced tacky substances including the popular products like Spider Tack, Pelican Grip. The mixture of sunscreen and rosin, which has been used in the game for decades, was also included on the list of banned substances.

Cubs pitchers had a meeting before Tuesday’s game against the Mets to discuss the different changes, which will begin to be enforced on June 21, as the team and the league tries to navigate the new rules.

“I think we were all kind of anticipating and understanding that something was going to come out,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. We’re just waiting for it to become official and then talk through what we need to do moving forward.”

The league cracking down on foreign substances comes amid seemingly nightly evidence of pitchers around the league using different substances with some using for increased grip while others do it to increase their spin rate and RPM.

According to Tuesday’s memo, the penalty for foreign substances being found on a player’s person will result in a 10-game suspension.

There has been clear frustrations from players, coaches and managers around the league as umpires have been enforcing substance more over the last several weeks as the conversation around foreign substances had begun to grow.

“Going into this year, it would have been nice to have a clear cut path for a lot of guys,” starter Zach Davies said. “But now, you’re having to U-turn in the middle of the season and try and figure things out. That’s frustrating. It’s annoying to have to talk about when it all could have been settled in spring training and guys aren’t worrying about trying to win ballgames.

“You have to answer more questions now that don’t really pertain to you, just because you’re part of the game. Over the last few years, we could have talked about baseball changing every year, but that’s not really brought up.”

Davies’ point about baseball’s changing is something that’s one the radar on pitchers and coaches around the league with pitchers describing the inconsistency in baseballs not only from ballpark to ballpark, but also within a start – varying from the seams on the ball to the slick and chalky surface – leading to a much greater emphasis on grip.

In a season where the league has seen hit batters per game skyrocket, that trend might continue to trend in the wrong direction now as pitchers try to navigate slick baseballs without anything to help grip.

“I would say that we have to put an emphasis on making sure that the baseball is uniform,” manager David Ross said. “Everywhere you go, you definitely hear pitchers talking about when [they] go on the road at this place, the balls are a little more chalky than in that place whether that has to do with climate or humidity, lack of humidity, or how somebody rubs them, there’s so many variables in that and I think we just have to get back to finding some form with that.”

While there has been chagrin in regards to how the league has decided to suddenly enforce banned substances, one thing many in the game have agreed on is the need to do something about the abuse of sticky substances to gain an advantage.

The hope is that there is a solution that addresses those issues in the near future.

“I don’t know if there’s another way to do it, though,” Hottovy said. “You almost have to hit the reset button and then kind of figure out from there what you want to do as a league. I think the minute you start giving exceptions to one thing, you’re going to have people kind of complain about other things.

“I think that’s the way you have to handle it and then we as an industry have to adjust and I think if that causes guys to have to back off their stuff to throw strikes, that’s pitching. That’s part of the game. Will it affect people? Absolutely. But again, I think to control the broader scheme, I think you have to start with a clean slate.”

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