MLB Issues New Guidance For Pitchers, Foreign Substances

Major League Baseball announced it will enhance its enforcement of the rules on Monday, and said it has given its clubs guidance moving forward to provide a uniform standard in the league.

The league said Tuesday it has provided guidance to all 30 clubs and to the umpires to serve as “a uniform standard for the consistent application of the rules, including regular checks of all pitchers regardless of whether an opposing club’s manager makes a request," MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince writes.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement that he's come to the conclusion following an "extensive process of repeated warnings without effect," gathering information from past and current players, listening to fans, thoughtful deliberation, and two months of "comprehensive data collection."

"I have determined that new enforcement of foreign substances is needed to level the playing field,” Manfred said. “I understand there’s a history of foreign substances being used on the ball, but what we are seeing today is objectively far different, with much tackier substances being used more frequently than ever before. It has become clear that the use of foreign substance has generally morphed from trying to get a better grip on the ball into something else — an unfair competitive advantage that is creating a lack of action and an uneven playing field.”

MLB rules prohibit applying foreign substances, but the use of sticky substances has been widespread and tacitly accepted by managers, players and teams for decades as a means of reducing the slickness of the ball and improving control of pitches, MLB.com states.

The league informed clubs prior to the 2021 season that it would make an effort to quantify the prevalence and effects of foreign substances in the sport using data collection, on-site monitoring of the clubhouse and dugout areas, video review and the collection of balls taken out of play, MLB.com reports. These, along with complaints from position players, pitchers, umpires, coaches and executives, spurred the new guidelines.

“This is not about any individual player or club, or placing blame,” said Manfred, “it is about a collective shift that has changed the game and needs to be addressed. We have a responsibility to our fans and the generational talent competing on the field to eliminate these substances and improve the game.”

Details of the enhanced enforcement protocols are as follows, per the MLB:

Bill Miller, president of the Major League Umpires Association, issued a statement in support of MLB’s decision.

“The integrity of the competition is of utmost importance to us,” Miller said. “We have worked diligently with MLB to develop an enforcement system that will treat all players and clubs equally.”