Baseball’s line between allowable, illegal substances remains fuzzyJared Wyllyson June 13, 2021 at 11:24 pm

“I don’t mess around with the stuff,” Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks said. “But I would say that is the sticky situation, no pun intended — they don’t know where the line should really be drawn.”

Pitchers have for years used substances to make sure they get a good grip on the ball, and as things like spin rate have become easier to track, many of them are seeing the appeal of finding ways to go beyond grip and have started using substances to increase their spin.

They might have gone too far. Entering Sunday, the major-league batting average was .238, the lowest since 1968.

As a result, the league is planning to crack down on the use of substances that do more than enhance grip. But whether there’s a clear line between what’s allowed and what’s not isn’t yet clear.

“I don’t think there really is, to be honest with you,” Kyle Hendricks said. “I don’t mess around with the stuff, so I don’t know as much about it as some other people, but I would say that is the sticky situation of the whole thing, no pun intended, but they don’t know where the line should really be drawn.”

That’s always been a gray area, and for years the policy in baseball has been for the opposing manager to call out when the other team’s pitcher was using something illegal on the mound.

The problem with that is no manager was going to call out another team’s pitcher if he knew guys on his team were doing it, too.

That is, until Cardinals pitcher Giovanny Gallegos had his hat confiscated on May 26, and manager Mike Schildt voiced his frustration with a situation that had been brewing in baseball for some time and brought it to the national discussion.

“I think it was bound to come out regardless,” Hendricks said. “Because as far as I know, from the start of the year, they’ve been taking baseballs and stuff like that, so I think they just needed a period to gather their info, and see what is really going on, and how bad is this, or what is the problem. And now they’ve gotten enough data, I think, where they realize now something needs to be done about it.”

How new rules would be enforced is still taking shape. Hendricks said he has heard it could be checks in the bullpen, clubhouse, or dugout between innings. Even if it involves in-game mound visits, the main concern for pitchers is that they know what to expect.

“As long as the rules were out there on what it was supposed to be, and this is what’s going to happen, and we know what to expect,” Hendricks said. “If we’re in the dark about it, and things are just being thrown at us, that’s different.”

Not much Chicago spin

The Cubs rank near the bottom of the league in average spin rate and velocity, but that’s of little concern to manager David Ross.

“I think we try to get people out,” Ross said. “I don’t correlate spin rate with outs. I know that it helps. Our guys get outs. I don’t care how hard they throw or what their spin rate is. I like outs.”

Javy reinjured thumb

Javy Baez was a late scratch from Sunday’s lineup. He re-aggravated his right thumb, likely diving for a foul ball in Saturday’s game. Issues with his right thumb kept Baez out of all three games in San Diego June 7-9.

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