The use of foreign substances by pitchers has become a huge storyline for Major League Baseball this season, and one former hurler has an idea for how the league can address the issue.
Jerry Blevins, who last pitched for the Atlanta Braves two years ago, unleashed a lengthy Twitter rant about foreign substances on Monday. The left-hander said it was never an issue when pitchers used sunscreen and rosin to enhance their grip but that things have now gone “too far.” A big reason for that, he says, is that the quality of the baseballs themselves has deteriorated.
The BASEBALL itself is the real issue for me. Every baseball that enters the game is different than the previous one. Sometimes it feels good in your hand. Often times, though, it feels like a dusty cue ball.
— Jerry Blevins (@jerryblevins) June 15, 2021
Sunscreen & rosin made the slippery baseballs feel like the good ones. I imagine there will be a lot of baseballs thrown out by the pitcher now because he can't "fix" it by rubbing off the dust as well.
— Jerry Blevins (@jerryblevins) June 15, 2021
Blevins compared using sunscreen and rosin to a basketball player wiping his shoes on the Slipp-Nott mat before entering a game. He said the use of substances like Spider Tack is where the line is crossed, but he thinks MLB could prevent it by ensuring that the baseballs are higher quality.
MLB needs to make a baseball that is consistent with grip and you wouldn't have to worry about any of it.
Pitchers have to make the adjustment now and learn to pitch with just the rosin bag.
END RANT
— Jerry Blevins (@jerryblevins) June 15, 2021
Blevins didn’t place all of the blame on MLB, however. He said pitchers need to learn more finesse and “take it back a notch” if they can’t control where the ball is going.
MLB reportedly came up with a plan this week for how pitchers will be disciplined if they are caught using a foreign substance. We saw one star pitcher essentially admit recently that he is guilty of doctoring the ball (video here). That combined with Trevor Bauer calling for action probably put more pressure on MLB.
