Ian Kinsler thinks that Cleveland Indians righty Trevor Bauer’s recent accusations against the Houston Astros are a bit of a pot and kettle situation.
Speaking with Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register on Monday, the Los Angeles Angels second baseman reacted to Bauer implying on Twitter this week that Houston’s pitchers had an abnormally high spin rate on their stuff, possibly due to the use of pine tar or other foreign substances on the baseball.
“It’s a weird statement made from a pitcher who is on a pitching staff and has a bunch of peers around who are probably using pine tar,” said Kinsler. “If [Corey] Kluber doesn’t use pine tar, I’d be extremely surprised. Because the action he gets on his pitches is something that no one else gets, so I’m sure he’s got a pretty good grip on the ball. For [Bauer] to call out one team, I don’t know what the point of that was.
“For me, I don’t care,” added the four-time All-Star about the use of pine tar by opposing pitchers. “If that allows them to stay away from the possibility of letting one fly, I’m all for it. It doesn’t bother me.”
The 35-year-old Kinsler, a 12-year MLB veteran, is in his first season with the Angels after spending the previous four with the Detroit Tigers, a rival of the Indians in the AL Central division. His comments come just one day after Astros manager AJ Hinch called Bauer out over his accusations as well.
