Last year, Major League Baseball went all-in on bans of sticky grip-enhancing substances for pitchers. Still, now teams — especially the Mets – are warning that the ban has created dangerous conditions for the players.
The Mets, in particular, have suffered a spate of players being hit by out-of-control pitches. And with balls thrown at speeds typically approaching 100 miles per hour, being hit by an errant pitch is no laughing matter.
The Mets have suffered 18 hits from balls thrown at the plate this season.
“You care about your players and getting into right and wrong and intent and what have you,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, according to MSN. “You reach a point where it’s about safety of your players. We’re lucky. You talk about a pitch that broke his helmet. It’s not good. I’m not happy.
“It’s really uncomfortable at the end of the day,” said Starling Marte, who was hit by a ball on Tuesday. “It’s one of those things where, whether it’s intentional or not, it has to stop. We’re tired of it and we’re going to do something about it if it continues to happen. It is uncomfortable every single time you go out there and you’re getting hit.”
Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt insists that the problem lies in MLB’s sticky substance ban, which has caused pitchers to find themselves unable to properly grip and control the balls they are throwing.
“The MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They’re bad,” said Bassitt. “Everyone knows it. Every pitcher in the league knows it. They’re bad. They don’t care. The MLB doesn’t give a damn about it. They don’t care. We’ve told them there are problems with them. They don’t care.”
"I had some close calls tonight. I've been hit in the face, I don't ever want to do that to anybody ever. MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They're bad. Everyone knows it. They don't care. MLB doesn't give a damn about it."
– Chris Bassitt pic.twitter.com/KMc0bAhYPx
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 27, 2022
Mets pitchers Chris Bassitt and James McCann say that the league needs to revisit the ban policy and talk to the pitchers about what they need, not outsiders like they did when they instituted the ban policy.
The two Mets hurlers are not alone. Veteran Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Rich Hill said the players’ union “dropped the ball” last year when the league moved to ban grip-enhancing substances, and the union caved to the rule. And New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole said that he had trouble getting a good spin on his pitches after the substance ban.
It isn’t just batters facing dangers due to the substance ban. Last year, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow insisted that his partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon strain injuries were also suffered due to the substances ban.
The ban is now approaching a year old, but players are still unhappy over the rule. And the pressure for reforming the rule is growing, with many wondering just how long it will be until a wild pitch seriously injures a batter.
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