MLB: Pitchers can use ‘cheat sheets’

No need to call them cheat sheets.

Major League Baseball has told teams that it’s perfectly OK for pitchers to carry the kind of scouting cards that umpire Joe West confiscated from Philles reliever Austin Davis on the mound this weekend.

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said he’d been informed the cards were legal. They are, provided they don’t delay games, MLB said in clarifying the policy.

“I think it’s great that our pitchers are able to have their game plans on them,” Kapler said Sunday’s 8-1 loss to the Cubs. “It takes a lot of mental focus, takes a lot of bandwidth to get out the best hitters in baseball. And when you can just take a little of that off your mind and put it on a card, I think that’s helpful for pitchers and good for baseball.”

It has become common in the age of advanced analytics to see outfielders and infielders pulling info cards from their pockets to check on proper positioning. But the sight of a pitcher doing it on the mound caught a lot of attention at Citizens Bank Park.

The unusual situation occurred Saturday night in the eighth inning of the Cubs’ 7-1 win in Philadelphia.

The NL Central-leading Cubs were ahead 5-1 as Addison Russell approached the plate. Davis took the reference card from his back pocket, checked the scouting report on Russell, and then put it away.

West, in his 41st season as an umpire, came in from third base and took the card. He said it was illegal under Rule 6.02(c)(7), which states that the pitcher shall not have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance.

Kapler and Davis said the left-hander was looking at the card merely for information on the Cubs hitters. The 25-year-old rookie said he’s used them this season.