Late last week, Major League Baseball owners came out of their meetings saying they were going to start cracking down against pitchers who are using illegal sticky/foreign substances during games.
Did we see that warning go into effect over the weekend with Los Angeles Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer's performance against the Atlanta Braves?
92.9 The Game Braves Insider Joe Patrick found it interesting that the Braves were able to manufacture more singles and doubles rather than the home run ball.
"First of all, I've noticed--maybe I'm just looking for it more, but I feel like I'm noticing way more pitchers with the ball flying out, hit(ting) batsmen--very wild pitches, which is one of the reasons why they like the sticky substance," Joe told Andy and Randy.
"Also, that sticky substance is going to give them elevated spin rates. For example, yesterday, we saw Trevor Bauer's spin rate decline pretty significantly. These guys aren't coming out and saying it straight up, but I do wonder if that's maybe one of the reasons why the Braves had some more success, not just hitting the ball out of the ballpark but hitting doubles and singles."
The Braves only hit two home runs in their three-game series against the Dodgers even though they lead the league in home runs.