Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos, who entered Thursday leading the majors in batting average at .361, has thoughts on baseball’s supposed crackdown on illegal foreign substances. The prevalence of pine tar and other agents used to give pitchers a better grip has been an open secret in baseball for years. However, in the past, players at least made some effort to hide it, which has not been the case in 2021.
Indians closer James Karinchak was recently seen applying some sort of substance, repeatedly touching the webbing of his glove, while Cubs All-Star Craig Kimbrel has also been accused of doctoring balls. A week ago, umpire Joe West made St. Louis reliever Giovanny Gallegos change hats before entering a game against the White Sox, citing a black spot on the bill of his cap. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt took exception to West singling out Gallegos, then launched into a 10-minute rant about “baseball’s dirty little secret” in his post-game press conference.
In the wake of these incidents, MLB has said it plans to strictly enforce its ban on illegal substances, ordering umpires to be “vigilant” in looking for suspicious smudges on caps and gloves. But Castellanos still isn’t buying it, dismissing recent comments by league consultant Theo Epstein and others as mere lip service. “The league doesn’t care,” insisted Castellanos during his appearance on The Chris Rose Rotation podcast. “They don’t care because if it was really a problem that they wanted, they would put people in the bullpen to check gloves, to check hats, whatever. The league would do something about it. But honestly, I don’t think it’s that important to them.”
Contact rates are down across the league (as evidenced by the six no-hitters we’ve seen in less than two months) and while some of that can be attributed to pitchers throwing harder than ever and batters abandoning “small ball” in pursuit of home runs, the widespread use of foreign substances, which can help increase spin rate, might also be a factor. Castellanos, best known for his viral moment last summer when he homered during Thom Brennaman’s on-air apology for using a gay slur, thinks the league is sending mixed signals, talking a big game without actually doing anything to solve the problem. “Listen, if I truly start speaking my mind, I usually get in trouble,” said the 29-year-old, measuring his words carefully. “It’s just the league has to figure out if it wants it to be illegal or not and stick by it.”
Some have posited that hitters actually prefer pitchers use foreign substances for a better grip, which would, at least in theory, lessen a batter’s chances of getting plunked (and potentially injured) by an errant pitch. That bogus argument has been disproven quite emphatically this year with MLB on pace for a record number of hit batsmen. “For the pitchers to say, ‘well, we need it for control, so we don’t hit you in the head.’ You know, fine, drill me. I’m on first base,” said Castellanos. “That helps my OPS and I get paid for that. Sacrifice some velocity for some control.”
Whether it’s the use of performance-enhancing drugs, sign-stealing, corked bats or foreign substances, baseball can’t seem to play it straight, continuing to muddy the waters with its constant rule-bending. Purists continue to lament the game’s evolution as the sport gets whittled down to strikeouts, walks and home runs (aka the “three true outcomes”), but what happened to integrity? Or did baseball ever have any?
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