Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
In June 2021, Major League Baseball found itself embroiled in another “cheating” controversy as baseball attempted to crack down on the use of “sticky substances” by pitchers on baseballs. Last summer, Spider Tack was the topic of the day, a sticky substance that was banned from the game, along with other substances intended to enhance a pitcher’s grip on the baseball.
Pitchers had their gloves and belts checked in between innings, just to make sure that no nefarious activities were taking place and to protect the “integrity of the game.” This season, pitchers’ hands are checked for foreign substances.
But, just like everything in life, there are consequences.
On Tuesday night in St. Louis, five batters were hit by pitches in the game between the New York Mets and the Cardinals, including Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who took a ball to the head from Cardinals reliever Kodi Whitley in the eighth inning.
Pete Alonso is hit on the helmet and the Mets are not happy one bit. pic.twitter.com/Kh88hgCuKJ
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 27, 2022
After the 3-0 victory over the Cardinals, Mets starter Chris Bassitt had a few words to share with Major League Baseball regarding the state of baseballs used during games.
“It’s extremely annoying to see your teammates constantly get hit, and if you get hit by certain pitches it is what it is, but to get hit in the head the amount that we’re getting hit is unbelievable,” Bassitt said. “I had some close calls tonight, and I’ve been hit in the face [by a line drive] and I don’t want to do that to anybody ever, but MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They’re bad. Everyone in the league knows it. Every pitcher knows it. They’re bad.”
“They don’t care,” he continued. “MLB doesn’t give a damn about it. They don’t care. We’ve told them our problems with them, and they don’t care.”
Mets catcher James McCann echoed Bassitt’s thoughts, saying that he’d like pitchers to have access to some kind of substance in order to enhance their grip on the ball, making it safer for hitters at the plate.
“It’s 2022 and there is enough technology out there to figure out the baseballs,” McCann said. “We want to talk about juiced balls, dead balls, slick balls, sticky balls — I mean it’s 2022, we should have an answer.”
“It’s happened to us as hitters, but you can talk to our pitchers and they will tell you there is something with the balls,” McCann continued. “The umpires are checking them and they can’t use stuff to grip the ball. As far as I’m concerned, put an on-deck circle behind the mound, give them a pine tar rag, the sunscreen and the rosin and let them use that stick. That stuff has proven it’s not going to improve somebody’s arsenal. It’s going to give them grip.”
The Mets have been hit by a league high 18 pitches through 19 regular season games in 2022.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.