ARLINGTON — The Rangers are about to find themselves in the middle of a very sticky situation.
This weekend in Los Angeles, they are tentatively scheduled to face right-hander and 2020 Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer, who has been at the center of the discussion on pitchers using foreign substances on baseball to improve grip and gain an edge on hitters.
MLB sent a memo to teams in spring training warning it would more strictly enforce the rule banning foreign substances. The practice has apparently become more widespread as RPMs and spin efficiency on pitches have become of greater value. Recently, four minor league pitchers, including the Rangers’ Mason Englert, were suspended for having illegal substances on them while on the mound.
Clubs were informed of the severity of the issue at last week’s owners meetings. In his most recent start, Bauer, who has been outspoken about the issue, saw a marked drop in his spin rate of an average of about 200 RPMs.
“If they’re serious about actually doing something about the rule that’s on the books, then that’s all I wanted for four years,” Bauer told reporters. “It’s nice to see them finally catching up to something that I’ve at least been talking to them about for four years. We’ll see what they do. Unfortunately, in MLB a lot of times, nothing gets done until their hand gets forced and it becomes a public issue.”
On Tuesday, Bauer’s former college teammate Gerritt Cole, at whom Bauer has seemed to direct some criticism, stammered when asked if he had ever used a sticky substance called “Spider Tack” on the mound.
“I don’t quite know how to answer that, to be honest,” Cole said.
Rangers GM Chris Young, who had previously served as Vice President of Baseball Operations at MLB, had been looking into the increased use of sticky substances before joining the Rangers.
“Our position has been and continues to be that we support Major League Baseball and the enforcement of the rules and we have full expectation that our players follow the rules,” Young said Tuesday. “Why have we gotten to this point with this? Well, I think that we’ve had a rule on the book that has probably gone unenforced for a long period of time. It’s simply gotten to a point where it’s truly impacted the game in arguably a negative way. It’s time to take a hard look at that.”
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