Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks is curious more than anything.
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday — and outlined in a memo to teams — that beginning Monday, there will be enhanced enforcement to prohibit the application of foreign substances to baseballs.
That includes everything from pine tar and grip enhancer Spider Tack to the combination of sunscreen and rosin. The league went as far as to advise pitchers not to apply sunscreen during night games after the sun has set or when playing in closed-roof ballparks.
Hendricks wonders how the enforcement process will look during games.
“Because you’re implementing some human error now with the umpires being able to check, so hopefully they know what they’re looking for,” Hendricks told the Tribune. “I just don’t think anybody should get banged for something that really isn’t sticky. I just hope that issue doesn’t pop up.
“It’s gotten to a point where it’s out of hand, so (MLB) has to almost go cold turkey to now start figuring out the problem. But I hope that they can go about it in the right way where guys aren’t getting hurt because they’re trying to do something so drastically different.”
Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy understands why the league has taken such strict steps to crack down on pitchers’ use of sticky substances. Hottovy, who appeared in 17 big-league games in 2011-12, highlighted the evolution of pitchers adapting and using grip enhancers to make really good pitches.
“The minute you start giving exceptions to one thing, then you’re going to have people complain about it,” Hottovy said Tuesday. “So I think that’s the way you have to handle it, and then we as an industry have to adjust. If that causes guys to have to back off their stuff to throw strikes, then that’s pitching. That’s part of the game.
“The problem is you’ve created pitches that command is basically irrelevant. I have a high-spin (four-seam fastball), high-spin curveball set up right down the middle and throw right down the middle — that’s not pitching. It’s not. And unfortunately, that’s what the game has gotten to.”
MLB stated in a release that existing on-field enforcement hasn’t deterred players amid increasing violations. The league has issued new guidance to major- and minor-league umpires to ensure a consistent application of the rules, which will include thoroughly checking all starting pitchers and relievers — including the pitcher’s hat, glove, and fingertips — while catchers also will be subject to routine inspections.
There are two notable ramifications for players caught possessing or applying a foreign substance:
They will be automatically ejected and receive a 10-game suspension.
Teams cannot replace the pitcher on the 26-man roster for the duration of the suspension, forcing them to play a man down for 10 games.
Cubs manager David Ross doesn’t have any expectations for the impact of the rules enforcement in the coming weeks. Ross believes the league is taking the right approach, though, by returning to square one and figuring out where to go from there.
“I think we’ve incentivized spin rate and velocity and the lack of pitch execution in our game because it showed that it played,” Ross said. “This may have to come down to guys that are going to have to learn to pitch to the corners and move the baseball around, and the art of pitching, which I grew up on, I think is important.
“Is there an element to holding the baseball that’s important? Sure, sure. But if I’m in MLB’s shoes and I have to govern this, I can’t have any gray area, right?”
Cubs starter Zach Davies expressed irritation at this change being implemented during the season. Teams were aware before the season, outlined in a March 23 memo from MLB, that the commissioner’s office planned to collect comprehensive data to evaluate the prevalence and effect of foreign substances. After evaluating the information, the league determined strict enforcement was the best way to ensure a fair playing field.
Davies echoed Ross’ and Hottovy’s perspective that banning everything was the only route for MLB to take if it wants to police substances.
“It’s annoying to have to talk about when it all could have been settled in spring training when guys aren’t trying to win ballgames,” Davies said. “We could have had long conversations about it in spring training. I just like to play baseball. For me, you have to answer more questions now that don’t really pertain to you just because you’re part of the game.
“I haven’t been a guy that’s too big in the analytics and the spin rates just because that doesn’t apply to my kind of game, so I don’t know how much that affects some guys.”
The Cubs pitching staff had a meeting before Tuesday’s game against the New York Mets to make sure everyone saw the memo and understands the expectations. Pitchers have a few days to prepare for enforcement.
“Anytime you add something midseason and add a wrinkle, it’s going to cause some issues,” Hottovy said. “It’s obviously going to fix a lot of the problems that have been going on, too, just like using stuff to enhance performance.
“But there’s a fine line between doing that and killing the game and also jeopardizing potential injuries and things, again, in a year where we’re already trying to control a lot of effort level and things like that.”
The league’s decision to focus on sticky substances leads to bigger questions about the baseballs themselves. Hendricks said baseballs are different “everywhere you go” — some are rubbed up, some aren’t and the inconsistencies appear within games, let alone game to game.
Changes with the baseball has been an ongoing problem the last couple years. Hendricks hopes MLB will address that and work it out as part of this process with the foreign substances.
As one of the most veteran pitchers on the Cubs staff, Hendricks has seen how the type of sticky substances has gotten out of control over the years.
“I know certain substances are a little crazy — when your spin rate is jumping hundreds of (revolutions per minute), yeah, that’s a competitive advantage. That probably shouldn’t be there,” Hendricks said. “It’s just really hard to see where that line is. So I get that we’ve got to start over and reestablish the line and then we can implement things from there. I think that’s probably the best way to go about it.”
Some pitchers already have come under scrutiny because of a decrease in spin rate based on their pitches’ revolutions per minute (RPM). That data is publicly available, making it easy to compare a pitch’s RPMs from, say, April to June. A notable decrease could lead to speculation that a pitcher was previously using a particularly sticky substance.
Hottovy explained there are ways to increase spin rate without the aid of a foreign substance, specifically noting mechanical tweaks and grip changes to add 100 to 200 RPMs on a pitch. Conversely, a dip in spin rate could be attributed to the natural ups and downs of a season or injuries.
“Spin obviously will make the pitch better, but if you can command and use it the right way, it still can be an effective pitch,” Hottovy said.
A midseason change inherently will have some repercussions. Pitcher injuries, already a worry due to the significant workload increase from last year’s 60-game season, is a main concern, one Hottovy hopes doesn’t come to fruition with the foreign substance restrictions.
“It’s easy for us to say, ‘Oh, just back off on the velocity and you’ll be fine,’ ” Hottovy said. “When you’re out there competing, the last thing you want to do is feel like you’re not attacking, you’re not using your best stuff, right?
“And, yeah, a lot of guys could do that, but when you’re in the heat of the moment, you’re going to try to throw your hardest pitch or your best pitch in those moments and now you don’t have quite that same grip and try to hold on to it a little bit longer, tweaking mechanics that changed something a little bit — those are the type of things that we’re hoping to avoid.”
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