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Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco has been one of the best hurlers of the season thus far, recording a 2.09 ERA across 47.1 innings. However, the right-hander has suffered a significant setback after getting ejected from Houston's 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday after the umpires found “sticky stuff” in his glove.
Blanco has now been suspended for 10 games by the MLB for using sticky substances, via MLB Network's Mark Feinsand. The 30-year-old claimed he used rosin in his glove for sweat, and he didn't know that pitchers aren't allowed to use it on their non-throwing hand, via MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
“No, I didn’t know that was illegal,” said Blanco. “I see other pitchers come in and do it, as well, so I thought that was normal.”
The third-year veteran was also fined an undisclosed amount. Astros general manager Dana Brown announced that Blanco won't appeal the suspension, which will begin with Wednesday's game against Oakland, via CBS Sports.
Was Blanco at fault, or are the MLB's sticky substance rules too harsh?
While Ronel Blanco and the Astros should've been more careful, the MLB's rosin rules are confusing
First-base umpire Eric Bacchus originally checked the glove in the first inning and found nothing. Just before the fourth frame began, though, trouble struck.
“Then when I went to go do his second check, going into the fourth inning, I asked for his glove,” Bacchus said. “That was the first thing I checked. And I felt something inside the glove [he pointed to his palm as he said this]. It was the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove since we’ve been doing this for a few years now. So, I brought the crew in. The crew conferred and then we went from there.”
Blanco pleaded his case, making the point that the rosin couldn't affect his pitches if it wasn't on his hand.
“What I told him is that if you found something sticky in my glove, you should also check my hand because it should also be on my hand,” he said. “If you find something there, just check my hand. And he didn’t.”
However, his point was made on deaf ears. The Dominican international was irritated, flustered by the MLB's confusing technicalities.
“It’s something that’s obviously extremely frustrating,” he said. “I want to go out there and compete and try to help the team and I couldn't do that.”
This will interrupt what had been a career year for Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his first start of the season on April 1st against the Toronto Blue Jays. While he should have been aware of the rules, this situation does exemplify the silliness of MLB's sticky substance rules.
Pitchers don't want sweat to interfere with the effectiveness of their pitches, which is why they use rosin, a sticky substance that comes from tree sap. Hurlers use it to dry their hands and get a better grip on the ball. The MLB deems it as a legal substance, but only when used on the throwing hand.
However, commissioner Rob Manfred and the rest of the MLB office may want to reconsider that rule to avoid incidents like this in the future. If rosin is a legal substance, it should be allowed on both hands for the sake of consistency and fairness. If not, they should release a statement explaining why rosin on the glove or glove hand is detrimental.
