Charlie Morton loves his gum balls — literally. And that may be an issue for the New York Yankees.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi went out to speak with home plate umpire Mark Carlson early in Game 7 of the ALCS, who later spoke with Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch. FS1’s broadcast crew aired the footage and suggested that Girardi was complaining about Morton touching bubble gum in his mouth while pitching for Houston.
Pitchers are not allowed to touch a foreign substance like that, especially one that could be used to alter a grip or change a ball’s spin.
ESPN’s Buster Olney also speculated that Girardi was talking with Mark Carlson about the gum issue.
Joe Girardi out to talk with HP umpire Mark Carlson between innings. Could it be about Charlie Morton touching his gum between pitches?
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 22, 2017
Touching his gum is not new for Morton, who also did it in his previous ALCS start:
Anyone else see Morton use his gum to make his fingers sticky in the bottom of the 1st after Judge’s K? #Yankeesvsastros #MLB #Yankees pic.twitter.com/LTKTqjQtff
— Rich Augustus (@RCAugustus10) October 17, 2017
Given what’s happened with Michael Pineda in the past, the Yankees are likely to be acutely aware of foreign substance issues.
