Threat of a check keeping pitchers honest
PHILADELPHIA >> The Phillies have been right in the middle of the crackdown on pitchers using sticky substances, which has gone swimmingly for MLB, but not so much for such critics as Hector Santiago.
The Phillies are the only club to ask the umpires to inspect the pitcher on the other team, manager Joe Girardi drawing the ire of Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who Girardi felt was skirting the rules rubbing his hand through his sweaty hair to mix with rosin.
The Phillies and the Mariners are the clubs most heavily scrutinized by umpire Phil Cuzzi, who discovered an illegal substance in the glove of Hector Santiago, resulting in a 10-game suspension the Seattle pitcher is appealing.
With two outs in the eighth inning of what would be a fourout save for Jose Alvarado, and a win for the Phillies on Tuesday night, Cuzzi approached the reliever and checked out his non
throwing arm. Alvarado then wiped off the arm. Girardi later called it a job well done.
“You’re not allowed to put rosin on your nonthrowing hand or wrist,” Girardi said. “Just out of habit, that’s what (Alvarado) did. So, they made him wipe it down. On a night when it’s so hot, it’s hard for pitchers to keep that sweat off their throwing hands and everything.
So, Phil, he did what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to go tell him that you can’t do that. And he made him wipe it off.”
Critics of the enforcement policy paired Alvarado with the suspension of Santiago and Girardi’s challenge of Max Scherzer (who carried on like a prima donna when checked) to trash the process MLB enacted due to widespread concern by players. The reality is the system is working. And it should have been enforced earlier unless, that is, you appreciate strikeouts and games routinely going over three hours.
It’s early, just an eightgame sample entering the Phils’ game Wednesday with the Marlins. But since the league cracked down on substances, the Phillies are averaging just 8.5 strikeouts per game compared to 9.68 before, and their OPS and home run rates are slightly lower than before.
Phillies reliever Brandon Kintzler, who has pretty much seen it all in a 12-year career with stops in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Washington, the Cubbies and Miami, has had plenty of time to evaluate the enforcement policy on several levels as he rehabs a neck injury that landed him on the 10-day IL.
Kintzler, 36, all but applauded MLB for its efforts.
“The cream rises to the top now,” Kintzler said. “The excuses that I hear are amazing. Ridiculous. I think we grew up without that stuff and now all of the sudden everyone’s dying without it. Some guys really cannot throw without it. I promise you. There are some guys I heard that cannot throw a slider without it. Now, we’re starting to see it.”
Everybody is watching, that’s for sure. Subtly, the umpires are easing up on the inspections as well. Vince Velasquez, who pitched seven strong innings Tuesday, wasn’t checked on his way out after his 97th pitch even though it was clear he wouldn’t return to the game. That’s happening more and more, according to a source.
Girardi has recovered after being accused of making a bogus challenge of Scherzer, who actually admitted using the sweat in his hair to make the rosin work. That was the first and only challenge since the crackdown began June 21, and though Girardi was clear about Scherzer repeatedly touching his hair again and again, the pitcher threw the kind of tantrum you’d expect from a superstar trying to send a stay the hell away from me message to the opposition and the umpires.
Girardi was ridiculed the next week by various figures on MLB satellite radio, including Nationals manager and Scherzer apologist Mike Rizzo, who called the challenge “embarrassing for Girardi, it’s embarrassing for the Phillies, it’s embarrassing for baseball.”
Should have gone for the grand slam and said it was embarrassing for the Nationals, too. Their collective hissy fit was the most dramatic of what have been extremely limited issues related to sticky substance enforcement in baseball.
According to ESPN’s Sarah Spain, the spin, strikeout and walk rates are down dramatically from rates in previous months and league-wide batting averages, home runs and OPS were the highest in the 11 days preceding the warning that sticky substance abuse would be strictly enforced.
Girardi, who was ejected for challenging the Nationals after they tried to show him up, is at peace with how the crackdown has worked. He hasn’t complained about the memo that was sent out to clubs after his dustup warning the organizations that managers risk ejection if the umpires decide that their challenge is not made in “good faith.”
Girardi likes how the system is working.
“I don’t think there’s really been any bumps in the road,” Girardi said. “I think the umpires are doing what they think is best. I think each umpire crew is probably going to be a little bit different, just like the strike zone is a little bit different. And I think that’s the way it’s going to go. I think it’s important for our game. And I hope we continue to do it.”