Michael Pineda will be under scrutiny when he pitches in the future after cameras caught him with a foreign substance on his hand Thursday that sure as heck appeared to be pine tar.
Pineda, who went six-plus innings of 1-run ball for the New York Yankees to pick up his first win of the season, had a dark substance on his hand for the first four innings of the game against the Boston Red Sox.
As MLB Network showed, by the fifth inning, he had cleaned up his hand. He didn’t allow a hit in the first four innings but allowed four after that, though he only let up one run.
Pineda was acquired by the Yankees from the Seattle Mariners over two years ago and was making his first start at Yankee Stadium.
Pineda also appeared to have the same substance on his hand during his first start of the season where he allowed just one run over six innings in a loss to the Blue Jays on April 5:
Just totally normal stuff on Michael Pineda's hand right here. pic.twitter.com/ZRAiMHu3Jf
— fierman (@fierman) April 11, 2014
And here’s how his pants looked from the substance:
The substance clearly appeared to be pine tar. Pine tar is a sticky substance used by batters to get a better grip on the bat. Some pitchers have also been known to use it — especially on cold days — because it helps them get a better grip on the ball.
The Red Sox probably can’t make much of a fuss about things because their pitcher who was opposing Pineda is Clay Buchholz, who was accused last year of doctoring the ball.
David Ortiz said after the game that it wasn’t a big deal because everyone uses pine tar.
David Ortiz: "Everybody uses pine tar. It's not a big deal."
— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) April 11, 2014
