Mets' Pete Alonso claims MLB is doctoring baseballs to harm free agents
New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso accused Major League Baseball of manipulating the baseballs to harm the earning potential for star free agents and players eligible for salary arbitration.
Alonso's comments came Wednesday before New York's game at Baltimore. He was responding to a question about the crackdown on sticky substances used by pitchers.
'I think that the biggest concern is that Major League Baseball manipulates the baseballs year in and year out depending on the free agency class - or guys being in an advanced part of their arbitration,' Alonso said. 'So I do think that's a big issue - the ball being different every single year. ... Maybe if the league didn't change the baseball, pitchers wouldn't need to use as much sticky stuff.'
Mets slugger Pete Alonso accused Major League Baseball of manipulating the baseballs to harm the earning potential for star free agents and players eligible for salary arbitration
When asked a follow-up question about this, Alonso remained firm. His implication was that the balls are friendlier to hitters in a year when a number of top pitchers are about to hit free agency - and vice versa.
'That's a fact,' he said. 'Guys have talked about it, but I mean, in 2019, there was a huge class of free agent pitchers, and then that's, quote-unquote, the juiced balls. Then 2020, it was a strange year with the COVID season, but now that we're back to playing like a regular season with a ton of shortstops or position players that are going to be paid a lot of money, high-caliber players, I mean yeah, it's not a coincidence.'
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MLB informed teams in February that it planned to slightly deaden the baseballs for the 2021 season following a years-long surge in home runs. In 2019, 3.6 percent of plate appearances ended in a homer, a number that has dropped to 3.1 percent this year.
Alonso finished with 53 home runs as a rookie in that 2019 season, hitting one in 7.6 percent of his plate appearances. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Alonso hit 16 home runs in 57 games (6.6 percent of plate appearances) and this year, has 10 in 45 games (5.5 percent).
The former All-Star will be eligible for arbitration for the first time after the current season.
A spokesperson from commissioner Rob Manfred's office declined DailyMail.com's request to comment on Alonso's claim that Major League Baseball was doctoring baseballs
Alonso's argument contradicts some recent anecdotal evidence.
For instance, after that home run surge in 2019, pitcher Gerrit Cole signed a nine-year deal with the New York Yankees worth a record $324 million, while pitcher Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Washington Nationals for a record $35 million per season.
If MLB was doctoring baseballs to hurt Cole and Strasburg, both of who were expected to command major offers that offseason, then the plan failed miserably.
As far as the original question was concerned, Alonso did not seem terribly concerned with what opposing pitchers might be putting on the ball.
'Whatever they want to use to help control the ball, let them use it, because for me, I go in the box every single day, and I see guys throwing harder and harder every day, and I don't want 99 slipping out of someone's hand,' Alonso said.
Alonso said hitters have plenty of options to help their grip.
'On our on-deck bag, we have a pine tar rag, a pine tar stick, like a special sticky spray, rosin - I mean, you name it, we have it,' he said. 'I wouldn't care if they had that behind the mound to help hold onto the ball.'
Cole found himself immersed in the controversy last week when Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson casually brought the pitcher's name up in an interview session, correlating a drop in Cole's spin rate with an anticipated crackdown on the sticky stuff by MLB.
Gerrit Cole, who starts against the Twins in Minnesota on Wednesday night, did display a reduced spin rate on his pitches in a rough outing on Thursday
Cole sidestepped questions on Tuesday about his suspected use of Spider Tack, a sticky paste favored by weightlifters.
'I don't... I don't know,' Cole told reporters on a Zoom call in between several pauses. 'I don't quite know how to answer that, to be honest.'
MLB recently announced that pitchers are to be checked for foreign substances repeatedly by umpires, who are permitted to conduct 10 random checks per game.
At least four minor league pitchers have been suspended this season for using banned foreign substances to doctor baseballs — ostensibly evidence of a stronger crackdown in the game's feeder system than in the big leagues during this historically dominant stretch of pitching.
There have been six no-hitters in the young season — one shy of the all-time record — and through May 31, MLB hitters were batting just .236, the lowest mark since 1968. The rise in pitcher dominance could be the result of home-brewed sticky substances, which are typically made from sunscreen and rosin or other prohibited materials, like Spider Tack.
The prevalence of doctored baseballs is suspected to have spiked in recent seasons, and as a result, pitchers are improving their spin rate and becoming harder to hit.
In this April 10, 2014 file photo, New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael Pineda, with a substance on his throwing hand, delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York
Another sticky substance used by pitchers is Tyrus Clear Sticky Grip (pictured)
Cole was specifically asked about using Spider Tack - a sticky paste favored by weightlifters
Donaldson elaborated on the matter Wednesday to clarify that he's concerned about many more opponents in the game than just Cole.
'With Gerrit Cole, he was the first guy to pitch since the suspensions happened and he's the first guy that you could see spin rates going down,' Donaldson said. 'There's been 12 or more guys already whose spin rates have magically dropped in the last week, so it's not just Gerrit Cole.'
Home plate umpire Brian O'Nora and Ron Kulpa examine the baseballs with Andrew Heaney of the Los Angeles Angels against the Astros at Minute Maid Park on April 23
Donaldson said he believes the usage of grip aids has 'got out of control' in the last few seasons.
'If you were to give $100 fake counterfeit money to an experienced bank teller, right away within five seconds you're going to know that that's not real money,' Donaldson said. 'Just think about how many pitches I've seen in my career, think about Nelson Cruz, a lot of these guys who have seen a lot of pitches. We know when stuff's up.'
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday he's anticipating an 'aggressive' crackdown at the major league level soon.
'It's gonna be a little bit different,' he said.
Astros manager Dusty Baker noted Wednesday that pitchers have been using foreign substances 'since the beginning of time.' While Baker says he will adhere to whatever mandates come from the league, he's concerned about issues that could arise from stricter enforcement.
'Everybody's talking about speed of the game,' he said. 'This is gonna slow the game down even more. So I don't know what we can do. I don't know how enforceable it is. And the umpires have enough to worry about doing just calling balls and strikes and outs and safe.'
Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson casually wondered to reporters last week if Cole had been using a foreign substance because the spin rate on his pitches suddenly dropped as MLB's crackdown got underway. 'Is it coincidence that Gerrit Cole's spin rate numbers went down (Thursday) after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?' Donaldson asked reporters on Friday. 'Is that possible? I don't know. Maybe'
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