In late March, Major League Baseball issued a memorandum to all 30 teams on the doctoral work of baseball with foreign substances for the upcoming season. It was tantamount to a lead that the league was going to take big measures to alleviate the use of substances, besides getting the ball just fine. The intention is to prevent the use of substances, such as pine, to increase the rotation of the ball, which leads to extra speed and movement.
Only a week into the season we have the first report of a pitcher’s ball balls being investigated by the league. Trevor Bauer of the Dodgers is under scrutiny, with several base balls since he started in Oakland on Wednesday, reports The Athletic. From the story:
The referees in Bauer’s start against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday collected several balls that he threw during the game. The balls have visible marks and were sticky and were sent to the league offices for further investigation, the sources said.
Even if the balls thrown by Bauer are found to contain foreign substances, it remains to be seen whether the league can prove he was responsible for their application, and whether any punishment imposed by Commissioner Rob Manfred would exist.
We’re here in the preliminary stages of any kind of story, and we can finally hear that the baseballs are legal. However, it is noteworthy for several reasons. First of all, this attempt to wipe out the substances is league-new, and it’s the first thing anyone has heard of baseballs being investigated.
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It is of course also very remarkable that it is Bauer. In the story at the end of March in which the memorandum of the league and the biggest takeaways were discussed, we said that in 2018 Bauer was very outspoken on Twitter and in the clubhouse about how effective drugs can help a pitcher turn more make, without blaming the Astros. to do it. The next time he threw, his turn pattern increased significantly early in the game, and after the game he offered a “no comment” – strange for a talkative type like Bauer – when asked about it. He won the NL Cy Young last season with a big jump in his turning point of 2019
That is not to say that Bauer doctored the ball in Oakland this week. Far from it. In fact, it may be the opposite because MLB Bauer watches more closely than other pitchers, especially because of its extensive history with this subject. It could also be coincidental because it was simply the first time a group of referees thought they saw something.
About guilt or innocence, we can wait to hear what comes out of the league’s investigation without making a ruling on Bauer.
For now, it looks like the league is investigating its first set of pitcher balls and that it’s Bauer is fascinating.