After Houston Astros starter Ronel Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning of a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night when umpires found a foreign substance that one called “the stickiest stuff I've felt on a glove,” AJ Pierzynski is calling for a change in the way MLB handles these types of issues.
Speaking on ‘Foul Territory,' Pierzynski says that MLB has ‘got to figure out a better way than this.'
Pierzynski believes that MLB players should have some leeway when using sticky substances, especially on their off arm.
Third base umpire Laz Diaz ejected Blanco after a check of his glove before he threw a pitch in the fourth inning. The MLB umpires, Blanco and Astros manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for several minutes discussing the issue before the Blanco was ejected from the game.
Blanco denied using an illegal substance.
“Just probably rosin I put on my left arm,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Maybe because of the sweat it got into the glove and that's maybe what they found.”
Espada said that when he went to the mound he saw “white powder” inside Blanco's glove.
“It looked to me when I grabbed the glove [that] there was some rosin,” Espada explained. “You're not allowed to use rosin on your non-pitching hand, and that's what it looked like to me. It was a little bit sticky with the moisture and the sweat, but that's what it looked like to me.”
Ronel Blanco opened Astros season with earliest no-hitter in MLB history
Ronel Blanco, who did not make his major league debut until two years ago at 28 years old, made history in his eighth career start, pitching a no-hitter for the Astros in a 10-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1.
The 30-year-old Blanco was a surprise addition to Houston's rotation as the 2024 season began, earning a spot by way of a shoulder injury to Astros ace Justin Verlander. But he stymied the Blue Jays lineup all night with a stellar changeup and finished off the no-hitter by getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground to second base for the final out.
Blanco's outing was the 17th no-hitter in Astros history, including playoffs. It was also the earliest no-hitter in MLB history, the April Fools' Day performance beating Hideo Nomo's 2001 no-hitter for Boston by three days.
Blanco struck out seven and walked just two Blue Jays batters in the win.
The Astros pitcher followed up on his no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays with six innings of one hit ball against the Texas Rangers the next Sunday.
Ronel Blanco is the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to throw 15.0+ innings and allow no more than one hit over his first two starts of the season, according to OptaSTATS. Following his no-hitter against the Blue Jays, Blanco took another into the sixth inning, and got two outs before surrendering his first hit of the season to Adolis Garcia with two outs in the inning.