10/5/2023 0 Comments Bullfrog sunscreen rosinIt’s changed about four times in the last week or so.” So it’d be nice just to have some clarity on what the rules of the game are that we’re playing under. As everyone knows, a rule that’s written down that’s never enforced is not a rule. “It would be nice as players to know what rules we’re competing by and what rules are going to be enforced. And if you’re not, then stop sweeping it under the rug, which is what they’ve done for four years now. So if you’re gonna enforce it, enforce it. “Let everyone compete on a fair playing field. “That’s been the whole point this entire time,” he said. But he did say, eight times in a 7-minute press conference, that he wanted “to compete on a fair playing field,” and the first comment was in response to an innocuous question of how he felt the ball was coming out of his hand Sunday. And he was the one answering the questions Sunday when Statcast had his spin rate at some 200 rpm below his average during his six-inning stint. His was the name prominently thrown out there early in the season when reports surfaced that balls were being saved for inspection. He has increased his spin rate on his four-seam fastball by 550 rpm over the past four seasons, and according to Statcast figures he leads baseball in spin rate on that pitch this season (and also leads four Dodgers pitchers in the top 11 as of Monday’s games). It’s fair to suggest Bauer forced the hand of the commissioner’s office by joining that crowd. Or something called (checks notes) Pelican Grip Dip. In a season when spin rates are up considerably and an estimated “80 to 90%” of all pitchers are applying some sort of tacky substance to the ball – in some cases quite blatantly – according to a Sports Illustrated report, only now has MLB decided to put teeth into a regulation that’s only 101 years old by punishing pitchers for using pine tar. It’s about to become the subject of an MLB crackdown, supposedly, although when Bauer was queried after his start Sunday in Atlanta he seemed to take the attitude that he would believe it when he saw it. The Dodgers right-hander was talking as far back as 2018 about what has now become baseball’s hottest topic: pitchers using substances on the ball to increase their spin rates. Trevor Bauer obviously has been playing the long game.
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