WASHINGTON -- The Nationals had opened with four bloop singles before Yan Gomes came to bat in the first inning.
There was nothing cheap about his knock, a 400-foot shot to left that gave his team a large early lead, setting them up to coast the rest of the way to beat the Pirates, 8-1, at Nationals Park Tuesday.
The Tyler Anderson four-seamer had a spin rate of 2,292 rotations per minute (RPM). On the night, he averaged 2206 RPM. That was nearly 200 RPM down from his season average of 2,395.
His cutter saw a nearly identical drop in spin, from 2,586 RPM to 2,395 Tuesday, as did his changeup, from 1,905 RPM to 1,707 RPM.
When I asked about his stuff postgame, Anderson talked about how he had been experimenting with grips, especially the changeup.
“I felt like the seams on these balls are a little bit higher, so when you grab them for my changeup, nothing was catching,” he explained. “I was just kind of all year battling that.”
A changeup in grip can explain a drop in spin for breaking and offspeed pitches, but not the four-seamer. That pitch’s spin is based on velocity. More speed equates to more spin. That wasn’t Anderson’s problem Tuesday. If anything, his fastball velocity was a tick higher.
Besides speed, the only other way to increase fastball spin is by applying a foreign substance.
And given the context of the news Tuesday, that drop in spin probably raised eyebrows.
On Tuesday, the league issued a memo that starting June 21, they would implement new punishments for pitchers who were found to be adding foreign substances to baseballs. Those found to be using a substance would be suspended 10 games with pay, with escalating punishments possible.
That includes everything from Spider Tack, the ultra-sticky chemical mixture that was developed for power lifters, to sunscreen. Rosin is still ok, but it can’t be a cocktail with any other material.
It’s a decision that will greatly impact pitching league-wide.
According to The Score, since the league issued a warning shot to players on June 2 by suspending four minor-league players for using sticky stuff, over two-thirds of major-league pitchers saw a spin reduction, even when accounting for a potential change in velocity.
"It's something that we knew was coming,” Derek Shelton said before the game. “All along, they had been very transparent that we were going to get guidelines.”
All Shelton said he asked for was consistent guidelines and for those to be properly enforced. While he is not a big team meeting guy, Shelton said he would address the team about what the guidelines are and “how it affects themselves, [and] how it affects their teammates.”
Those discussions are going to be happening throughout the league, and really the country.
And Anderson knows who he is going to blame for it.
“I feel like this is just a problem that was created by [commissioner Rob] Manfred by changing the ball every year,” Anderson said. “Pitching has been missing barrels for a long time. When they start putting in balls that fly and guys have to figure out how to miss barrels, all of a sudden instead of missing barrels, they have to try and miss bats, to try and fight.”
Anderson kept going, adding that the quality or characteristics of the baseball varies widely by location, making getting a grip a challenge.
“Sometimes you go places, and balls are really, really slick,” Anderson said. “Sometimes you go places, and they’re OK. Sometimes it’s humid and the balls are all right. Sometimes you get a ball that’s really chalky. You have to lick your fingers over and over and over to get any kind of tack or anything on the ball.”
Chad Kuhl complained about the ball in his last start Saturday in Milwaukee, describing it like a pearl. It wasn’t just him who was off that series. The Brewers’ starter that day, Corbin Burnes, had walked just seven batters over 59 ⅓ innings to that point, issued three that day.
Asking about it in Washington, the word I got was that the baseballs were not properly rubbed up before the Brewers series. Both players and coaching believe that.
And while I wasn’t given a name or names, Kuhl and Anderson aren’t the only Pirates who have complained about the new baseballs. They’re just the ones who were willing to do it over Zoom.
“When your pitches aren’t doing something the same [thing], I think guys probably out of desperation kind of look for other ways to try and get their pitches to go back to what they were or something,” Anderson said. “At some point, guys probably crossed the line.”
But everyone knew that. It was, as Cardinals manager Mike Schildt put it last month after pitcher Giovanny Gallegos' hat was collected by umpire Joe West, baseball’s “dirty little secret.”
This offseason, information came to light that Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and other top pitchers used an illegal substance concocted by former Angels visiting clubhouse attendant Brian Hawkins for their grip. The league did not act.
They could have made these changes last offseason or next. Instead, they did it this year.
When the league’s batting average is within one point of 1968’s year of the pitcher levels.
Perhaps the league will back off in some time and middle ground will be found, allowing more approved substances to give pitchers a better grip. For now, though, they have escalated a story rapidly over the course of a few weeks, and plenty will be monitoring spin rates to see whose drops. It will create a black eye for the sport that could dwarf sign stealing, and maybe be on par with steroids, where everyone’s favorite team has somebody bending the rules.
Or, to put it more consciously, things are probably going to get worse before they get better.
“I think overall, something will happen,” Anderson said. “Something has to happen to make it a fair, level playing field for everybody. And I’m OK with that.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Anderson settled down after that first inning and was able to go six innings, continuing his streak of providing at least five frames in each of his starts this year. He finished with six runs and 10 hits against while striking out four and walking a batter.
"After that [first inning], maybe he went a little bit farther off the plate, maybe a little bit better execution," Shelton said.
• The offense's lulls continued Tuesday, managing just one run and one extra-base hit, a sixth inning double by Phillip Evans, against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin.
Corbin, once a high-ticket free agent signing, entered the night with a 6.21 ERA, but shut down the Pirates over 8 1/3 innings.
Shelton tipped his cap to the lefty, but acknowledged the offense could have done more against him.
"I think we got a little passive and he started to spin the breaking ball on the plate. We got on our heels a little bit instead of staying in attack mode."
• Make that nine losses in a row for the Pirates.
"They're handling it well," Shelton said when asked about the mood in the clubhouse. "That’s not to say that they're not frustrated; they are frustrated after losing nine games in a row. We’ve got to figure out amongst ourselves how we bounce out of it."
• Colin Moran (back) was out of the lineup for the second straight night, but remains day-to-day. Shelton said before the game that he was hopeful Moran would be available later that night, but the manager used Adam Frazier, who was getting a scheduled off-day, and Ka'ai Tom as pinch-hitters Tuesday instead.
• In The System: Roansy Contreras spun a gem for the Curve Tuesday against the Erie SeaWolves, striking out 10 over a season high seven innings. While he did allow a homer, only three SeaWolves reached base. It's a talented lineup too, featuring last year's first overall pick, Spencer Torkelson, and No. 15 prospect Riley Greene. They went a combined 0-for-6 with a pair of strikeouts.
In Greensboro, Quinn Priester struck out a half dozen over five innings, allowing just one unearned run. After a rocky start to the season, Priester has found his footing as the year has progressed, though his fastball is still behind his curve in terms of development:
Quinn Priester made a start in front of cameras, so here's a look at some of how it went. Just one whiff on the fastball, and it was in the at-bat that resulted in a homer. That was the only run he allowed on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts over five innings. #Pirates pic.twitter.com/K56I1dvphL
— Gerard Gilberto (@Gerard_Gilberto) June 16, 2021
THE ESSENTIALS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Kevin Newman, 2B
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Jacob Stallings, C
Gregory Polanco, RF
Erik González, SS
Ben Gamel, LF
Phillip Evans, 1B
Tyler Anderson, P
And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:
Kyle Schwaber, LF
Trea Turner, SS
Juan Soto, RF
Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
Josh Harrison, 2B
Yan Gomes, C
Jordy Mercer, 3B
Victor Robles, CF
Patrick Corbin, P
THE SCHEDULE
Chase De Jong (0-0, 4.80) will try to prevent the losing streak from reaching 10 games. He'll take on Paolo Espino (0-2, 2.78) in the getaway game Wednesday. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m.