A trying season for Royals starting pitcher Jordan Lyles took a turn for the positive on Monday night, when he fired six shutout innings against the Tigers in what ended up being a 3-2 loss for Kansas City. Outings like that have been hard to come by for the veteran right-hander, who owns a 1-11 record and a 6.05 ERA on the season.
Any positives that could be gleaned from Monday’s performance, though, have been called into question by Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson—and the fine detectives on Twitter.
A Twitter user shared a screenshot from Monday night’s broadcast that appeared to show some sort of substance on Lyles’s left wrist. That prompted Torkelson to fire a shot across the bow toward Lyles before Tuesday’s game.
Tork’s response to Jordan Lyles using sticky stuff last night: “He’s 1-11. You can have it. Take it.” pic.twitter.com/e5TT2mnnZp
— Chris McCosky (@cmccosky) July 18, 2023
“Yeah, there’s definitely something there,” Torkelson said, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. “But that hasn’t gone away. Guys are still doing that. He just happened to not get caught. There’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s like, if you can do it and not get caught, I guess more power to him.”
Acknowledging Lyles’s struggles so far this season, Torkelson added: “He’s 1-11. You can have it. Take it.”
Lyles began the season 0-11, not picking up his first win until his 16th start on June 24, and he leads the majors in losses. Petzold noted that Lyles wore a long sleeve compression undershirt during Monday’s game despite a temperature of 84 degrees in Kansas City at first pitch.
The 32-year-old pitcher is in his 13th big league season, pitching for his eighth different franchise. The Royals will face the Tigers in one more series this season at the end of September in Detroit.
