Trevor Bauer goes off on NSFW rant against MLB’s implementation of foreign substance ban
By Mark Powell
Rob Manfred and MLB announced a midseason ban on ‘foreign substances’ used by pitchers to improve their grip. Some players are rightfully ticked off.
Trevor Bauer is never one to shy away from a debate.
On Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after a memo was sent out from the league office to players and teams explaining the new rules, Bauer took to social media to issue a response of sorts.
Bauer had to feel targeted to some extent — his spin rate has declined considerably in recent weeks, an attribute commonly associated with the use of sticky, or foreign, substances.
Whether he was one of the main contributors to the foreign substance movement or not, Major League Baseball implementing a rule change midseason is borderline dangerous. Just ask Tyler Glasnow, who has a partial UCL tear in part due to altered tactics as of a few weeks ago.
MLB news: Trevor Bauer responds to foreign substance ban by MLB
Only one of the MASSIVE problems with what @MLB is doing. They’ve knowingly swept this under the rug for 4 years. Now they implement a knee jerk reaction to shifting public perception. Hard to hear them talk about “competitive integrity” when they have no integrity to begin with. https://t.co/7KZ3Pu7MM0
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2021
To be clear, the memo is fine long term, and it will serve to level the playing field. That is a good thing. But to implement it mid season when for 3 months you’ve promised players and teams that nothing about your chosen enforcement of the rules would change this year and
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2021
Actively encouraged players to continue playing how that have in the past, that’s a lie. There’s no integrity in that. So save it with the competitive integrity bullshit @mlb. All you care about is the bottom line of the business, and public perception negatively affecting it.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2021
Bauer didn’t necessarily have an issue with the ban itself — it’s been a long time coming, as he notes. MLB has watched the issue grow in recent years, to the point it’s actively hurting the sport’s popularity. So, why not act before the season?
Perhaps Manfred didn’t have an understanding as to how dramatized this issue actually was. Or, perhaps more likely, he didn’t know how much it would impact his bottom line.
Had they implemented this ban before the season, then pitchers would’ve had time to prepare. Instead, they’re forced to act on the fly, and in some cases (if Glasnow is to be believed) opening themselves up to injury risk.
For onece, Bauer made a reliable point. He’ll hardly be the last player to raise it in the coming weeks.
Next. Tyler Glasnow blames MLB crackdown on foreign substances for his injury. dark