Pitchers clean in 1st round of checks

ARLINGTON, Texas — The search is on for unauthorized foreign substances that pitchers can use to doctor baseballs, long against the rules but rarely enforced until now. The crackdown began Monday when major and minor league umpires started regular checks of all pitchers for tacky substances used to get a better grip on the balls, but can also increase the spin of the balls and make hitting them more difficult.

No pitchers were found to have illegal substances on them as of 1 a.m., six days after a fivepage memo to teams about the pending change in enforcement that followed what commissioner Rob Manfred called an extensive process of repeated warnings without effect.

Rangers starter Kyle Gibson and Oakland’s Frankie Montas weren’t checked until after pitching in the second inning of that game in Texas. Both were smiling after getting inspected on the field.

Texas manager Chris Woodward said before the game that Gibson said he has never used anything on the baseball.

“He’s kind of a unicorn nowadays ... to have a guy who is so good who doesn’t use anything,” Woodward said. “It’s probably rare.”

Manfred said last week that the enforcement of foreign substances was needed “to level the playing field” after two months of comprehensive data collection, including inspections of balls used in games and testing by third-party inspectors. That came with the league batting average at a more than a half-century low along with record strikeouts.