FixMLB @MlbFix

Gerrit Cole on if he ever used Spider Tack while pitching: "I don't quite know how to answer that, to be honest...If MLB wants to legislate some more stuff, that's a conversation that we can have"

Hunter Renfroe didn’t pull any punches about what substances can do for pitchers. #MLB #SpiderTack

NESN @NESN

5 years ago

"Whatever their concoction is, is a little bit absurd" Hunter Renfroe joined Lenny and TC to discuss the MLB cracking down on pitchers using substances on the ball... @Hunter_Renfroe | @DinardoLenny | @TomCaron | #RedSox

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Following the MLB's crackdown on illicit substances, League-wide strikeout rates fell significantly, showing how pitchers are suffering from the crackdown. #FanGraphs #SpinRate

A look at the significant decline in spin rates following MLB's crackdown on "sticky stuff" #SpiderTack #SpinRate

Yankees' Gerrit Cole placed in sticky situation with questions about spin rate, MLB crackdown bit.ly/3wyiCLv

With his public comments -- and performance -- #Dodgers Trevor Bauer has made himself the face of MLB's spin-rate/sticky-stuff controversy. Today his spin rate dropped ... just as MLB reportedly plans to crack down on violators. ocregister.com/2021/06/06/dod…

Good tidbit from @Travis_Sawchik on foreign substances: 63% of all pitchers active since MLB's memo last week have seen declines in spin rate. And that's before MLB actually started the crackdown. This is just what happens when pitchers fear it's coming. thescore.com/mlb/news/21818…

What was an elite spin rate in 2018 is now average. The percentage of high-spin fastballs has increased threefold since ’15. For hitters, all this suddenly acquired extra movement is catastrophic. More on MLB's sticky situation: buff.ly/34J5SWi

It's easy to mock Gerrit Cole's non-answer about Spider Tack or pepper Trevor Bauer post-game about spin rate. But make no mistake: this is a mess of MLB's creation FIRST and Rob Manfred deserves the foremost public scorn. Latest for @TheAthletic: theathletic.com/2641498/2021/0…

Here's what Josh Donaldson said on Friday about Spider Tack and other sticky substances along with mentioning Gerrit Cole's reduced spin rate. #MNTwins #Yankees theathletic.com/2634113/2021/0…

Donaldson on spin rate remarks: Not just Cole dlvr.it/S1QVQH #Yankees

Just a little over a year ago, Trevor Bauer claimed pitchers using foreign substances on the mound was worse than steroids. We all saw his spin rate numbers jump dramatically in September 2019. Going to be fascinating to see how this plays out. #MLB | #Dodgers| #Baseball

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal

5 years ago

Multiple suspicious baseballs from Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer sent to MLB for inspection. Latest attempted crackdown by league being put to test. Story: theathletic.com/2507091/2021/0…

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That pitch was begging to be punished (3). Also notable -- spin rate was 2876 rpm. Average on the Garrett Richards curveball last season was 3299 rpm. This isn't the pitcher the #RedSox thought they signed. #MLB crackdown on foreign substances has affected him considerably.

Red is spin rate, blue is velocity. (10-day rolling MLB fourseam fastball averages) Very roughly speaking, about one-quarter of the 🔄 has returned. @PitchingNinja @jaysonst @enosarris

As others have shown, we have seen a pretty noticeable drop in spin rate since MLB's June 3 foreign substance crackdown notice. Here's the league-average Bauer Units on four-seam fastballs by date this season:

Since we did the spin-rate chart for Zack Wheeler earlier, here’s the same chart on Max Scherzer tonight. Spin rates down on every pitch through 4 IP. But there’s a lot of that going on this week.