Major League Baseball is ramping up enforcement of its ban on pitchers using sticky substances to increase spin and movement. In a memo to all clubs Thursday obtained by Sports Illustrated, MLB said it is ordering umpires to conduct more thorough and more random checks of pitchers, to initiate in-game searches without opposing managers’ requests and to check catchers’ equipment.
The memo was sent by Michael Hill, senior vice president of on-field operations. MLB began its crackdown on sticky substances in 2021. By the end of that season, spin rates climbed again as pitchers figured out easy workarounds to largely cursory and predictable searches. “Unfortunately, spin rates began to rise again during the 2022 season and we received reports of continued use of foreign substances on the field,” Hill wrote.
Umpires this year are instructed to “increase the frequency and scope of foreign substance checks,” according to the memo.
