CHICAGO – The Tampa Bay Rays right-hander, Tyler glasnow, spoke about the Major League Baseball crackdown on foreign substances Tuesday after he was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor tendon strain.
Glasnow said that, prior to the MLB initiative, he stopped using sunscreen – the only foreign substance he said he’s used – two starts ago and felt sore the next day from needing to adjust his grips. He did the same in Monday’s outing against the Chicago White Sox and then felt something “explode.”
“I changed my fastball grip and my curveball grip,” said an animated Glasnow in a video conference with reporters. “I had to put my fastball deeper in my hand and grip it tighter. Instead of holding my curveball at my fingertips, I had to dig it deeper into my hand.
“I’ve been choking on the m —– all my pitches.”
Glasnow left Monday night’s game after four innings. He said he understands what MLB is trying to do to remove the Spider Tack and other sticky substances, but has trouble getting it done mid-season and removing everything at once.
The teams were informed Tuesday that starting June 21, pitchers will be subject to random checks and could face expulsions, fines and suspensions if they find foreign substances on them or on their gloves.
Glasnow said there was talk a couple of weeks ago that removing anything that helps grip could lead to increased injuries.
“In my mind that sounds silly,” Glasnow said. “That sounds like an excuse a player would use to make sure he could use sticky stuff. I pitched the Nationals … I did well. I woke up the next day and was sore in places I didn’t even know I had. I had muscles.” .
Glasnow struck out 11 batters in seven innings against the Washington Nationals on June 8, calling it one of his best outings of the year. For him, it was proof that he doesn’t need any substances to aid his performance – just to aid his grip.
“Waking up after that start, I thought ‘this sucks,'” Glasnow recalled. “Something is strange here. That same feeling persists throughout the week. I go into my start yesterday (Monday) and that same feeling (is there), pops up or whatever happened to my elbow. I’m sorry. Something happened. .
“Do it in the offseason. Give us a chance to adjust. But I just threw 80 innings, then you tell me I can’t use anything in the middle of the year. I have to change everything I’ve been doing. All season. I tell them that. I really think that’s why I got hurt. “
The Rays veteran explained how he used to hold the ball like an “egg,” but since eliminating grip enhancers, he had to squeeze it a lot harder. It put strain on her arm.
“That’s outside the window,” he said of his old fists. “I have to develop something where I can no longer hold the light ball. I have to dig it deep into my hand. I’m taking a fastball and squeezing it with twice as much force.
“Me throwing 100 mph and being (6ft 7in) is the reason I got hurt, but that contributed. It frustrates me that they don’t understand how hard it is to throw and that they tell us to do something completely different in the middle of the game. season is crazy. It’s ridiculous. “
Glasnow says many of his teammates believe the same – batters included.
“We had a union meeting where 36 representatives were present,” explained Glasnow. “And it was like, ‘Does anyone have a problem with sunscreen and resin?’ No. Not a single person said there was a problem with that. The hitters said go ahead and use it. “
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander, Trevor bauer, responded to Glasnow’s comments by tweeting his own criticism of the MLB crackdown.
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Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena homered, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 for their fourth straight victory.
“They have knowingly swept this under the rug for 4 years. Now they implement a knee-jerk reaction to the change in public perception. It’s hard to hear them talk about competitive integrity when they don’t have integrity to begin with,” he wrote.
He added: “To be clear, the memo is fine in the long run, and it will serve to level the playing field. That’s a good thing. But implement it mid-season when for 3 months you have promised players and teams that nothing about of the application of the rules that he chose would change this year and actively encouraged players to continue playing as they have done in the past, that is a lie. There is no integrity in that m —– … “
To avoid forcing umpires to try to differentiate between sunscreen and stickier substances, like Spider Tack, MLB decided to eliminate all grip enhancers.
“Sunscreen and resin are apparently the same as Spider Tack,” Glasnow said. “Okay, I guess I’ll adapt and learn. And the only thing I learned was that it hurts to throw a ball in the middle of the season from having something to not having something.”
Glasnow could return for the postseason, as he won’t have surgery, but that’s no comfort to a pitcher who said he believes he took an unnecessary hit to his year.
“I’m sitting here, my lifelong dream. I want to go out there and win a Cy Young,” he said. “I want to be an All-Star and now he’s a f —–. Now it’s over. Now I have to rehab and try to get back to the playoffs. I’m clearly frustrated.”
Glasnow said he plans to see another doctor on Friday. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list and outfielder Mike Brosseau was called up from Triple A, Durham.
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