Tyler Glasnow: “The whole day yesterday I was sitting there trying to get a grip on the ball. I’m not trying to blame anyone, I’m not saying this is anyone’s fault, they got thrown into the situation and are doing the best they possibly can to navigate around this – they’re trying to make this fair for people, I understand that. Whether or not you want us to use sticky stuff is fine. Fine, do it in the offseason, give us a chance to adjust to it. But I just threw 80, 70-whatever innings and then you just told me I can’t use anything in the middle of the year? I had to change everything I’d been doing the entire season, EVERYTHING, out of the window, I had to start doing something completely new. I’m telling you, this is why I truly believe I got hurt. Me throwing 100 and being 6’7” is why I got hurt but that contributed. I’m frustrated they don’t understand how hard it is to pitch, one, but to tell us to do something completely different in the middle of a season is insane. It’s ridiculous.”
Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow made some eye-opening comments in the wake of his potential season-ending elbow injury, as Glasnow blamed Major League Baseball’s recent ban on sticky substances for his current predicament.
The MLB will now formally crackdown on pitchers using forms of ‘sticky stuff’, as pitchers around baseball have seemingly taken advantage of the new phenomenon the last few seasons with strikeouts at an all-time high, and batting average at an all-time low.
The smoking gun appeared to be the league’s recent dedication to analytics in the past few seasons which now constantly track the spin rates of every pitch thrown during the season. Spin rates across baseball have mysteriously all risen by significant amounts in a way that is not physically possible without the assistance of a sticky substance for increased grip.
Improved grip on a baseball can help pitchers substantially, as the longer the baseball is able to make contact with a pitcher's fingers during their throwing motion, the more spin will be produced at the release. What has resulted is pitchers suddenly throwing four-seam fastballs, sliders, and curveballs with RPM's increasing by the hundreds, and many pitches becoming nearly unhittable, especially ones like Glasnow who can throw 100 MPH.
Glasnow went on the IL on Tuesday after it was revealed he had a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.
The comments linking the league’s ban on sticky tack to his injury were rather shocking, considering Glasnow effectively admitted to doctoring baseballs.
Glasnow came up with the Pittsburgh Pirates but was a highly ineffective pitcher from 2016-2018, going just 3-11 with a 5.79 ERA in 141.1 innings. He had 152 strikeouts, but also added 91 walks.
It wasn’t until he got to Tampa Bay that Glasnow emerged as one of the best arms in baseball.
Since his infamous involvement in the Chris Archer trade, Glasnow has gone 17-9 with a 3.10 ERA, with 352 K’s in 261.2 innings, with only 82 walks.
Glasnow's comments will surely lead to speculation over the timing of his sudden rise throughout the game from failed prospect to Cy Young contender, as Glasnow's admitted usage of sticky substances could tarnish his accomplishments.
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