Major League Baseball is reportedly rolling out a new penalty in its apparent crusade against players using foreign substances.
The league is set to announce a new rule that would make any player who is caught with "sticky stuff" and other outside substances subject to a 10-day suspension, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The edict is set to go into effect on June 21, Passan reported, and players will be subject to in-game checks by umpires.
The move comes after months and years of intensifying debate, mostly around pitchers using any number of substances to enhance their grip on the ball. Analysis shows stickier grips can help a pitcher increase the spin rate on both fastballs and breaking balls, making both harder to hit.
The debate in recent years seems to have been focused on a particular brand-name substance, called Spider Tack, an industrial-strength adhesive. Other pitchers have used pine tar, which is permitted for hitters to dab on their bats, while others still are said to use a combination of rosin, which is supplied to pitchers on the mound, mixed with sunscreen.
But apparently those are all going away now, with pitchers left to rely only on the trusty old rosin bag on the back of the mound. Previous reports have indicated the league has explored approving a universal sticky substance for all players to use, but nothing yet had come to fruition.
MLB apparently began quietly monitoring foreign the use of substances sometime earlier this season. Late last month, Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos was made to switch his cap by veteran umpire Joe West, when it was decided he had too much pine tar on the bill. Since around that time, batting averages have been up by about 10 points, while spin rates on pitches have been markedly down, Passan reported.
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