How Enforcement Will Work, Sizable Spin Drops Already, Big Names Implicated, and Other Sticky Bullets
This is the week when concrete steps to crack down on the use of foreign, grip-enhancing substances will begin, which means there’s a bullets-level volume of stuff to touch on.
Among your sticky bullets …
⇒ Per multiple reports (ESPN, The Athletic) MLB will be communicating with teams and umpires this week about what the new structures and protocols are going to look like, with enforcement reportedly beginning around June 21, or one week from today. Those enforcement protocols will lean heavily on random checks for foreign substances through the game, with virtually all pitchers getting checked at least once (position players will get checked, too, to make sure they aren’t being used as a mule, so to speak).
⇒ You can speculate – correctly, in my view – that MLB has been slow-playing this rollout of enforcement precisely so that pitchers have a long period to adjust to their new reality, and thus no one has to actually get busted, live, during a game. That has meant significant spin rate drops for various pitchers over the past week, as we’ve seen lots of accounts noting on Twitter. Some big names, and some of my thoughts on that:
According to CBSSports:
Trevor Bauer vs. Texas- His four-seam was down 166 rpm and his cutter down 123 rpm.
Brewers SP Corbin Burnes vs. PIT: His cutter (his best pitch) was down 163 rpm.
Tigers SP Tarik Skubal vs. CWS: fastball spin rate down 113 rpm-slider down 201 rpm.— Bernie Pleskoff (@BerniePleskoff) June 14, 2021
I am *almost* to the point now where I appreciate the guys whose spin rates are plummeting as much as the guys who were never using sticky stuff in the first place. At least they're now trying to fly right, even where they know there's going to be a serious adjustment period. https://t.co/YjLOnSbZL9
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) June 13, 2021
⇒ The drops in spin have been enough to register across the whole body of pitchers:
Putting this here in a thread because I think people are really missing how significant the drop *could* be. https://t.co/u4tiHLfYeS
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) June 13, 2021
As @harrypav mentioned earlier, I took a look at spin rate on fastballs by month compared to the previous month, back to April->May 2017. I took each pitcher’s difference, then weighted them based on frequency. So far, June 2021 looks…notable. pic.twitter.com/vI0Vfr04N0
— Lucas (@DBITLefty) June 14, 2021
⇒ And the results on the hitting side might be showing immediately, too:
What if there was a magic pill that could … uhh … scratch that. What if there was a magic memo that could pump offensive efficiency by 10 percentage points?
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) June 14, 2021
⇒ Remember Bubba Harkins? The former Angels clubhouse attendant who was very briefly “the bad guy” in this conversation is speaking out. It’s not that he didn’t do it – he supplied lots of pitchers, including big names, with custom-made sticky stuff – it’s just that he doesn’t understand why he’s the only guy who has been singled out:
SI Daily Cover: Bubba Harkins was the guy pitchers went to (and texted) for sticky stuff.
Now he's speaking out ➡️ https://t.co/0PgrgeKUPw pic.twitter.com/E7MQJYkRHu
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 14, 2021
⇒ I know we’re hearing only one side of the story there, but it sure sounds like Harkins got screwed, given the culture of the sport. And wow, the pitcher names who were purportedly reaching out to him for stuff. Stars among stars.
