Yankees reliever Zack Britton says ‘optics’ of patting pitchers down on the field are ‘just absolutely embarrassing for our game’
NEW YORK — Zack Britton was embarrassed and frustrated. The Yankees set-up man and member of the player’s union leadership understands the desire to enforce the rules about pitchers using illegal substances to alter their grips and spin rates, but there has to be a better way than having pitchers go through a pat-down on the field.
“I just think the optics of it are so bad for baseball,” Britton said before Wednesday’s game against the Royals at Yankee Stadium. “I mean, having players checked on the field, we’re talking about that. We’re not talking about (Rays rookie) Wander Franco’s debut. And we’re not talking about how well Gerrit (Cole) threw and how well (Nationals ace) Max Scherzer threw and all this other stuff around the game.
“We’re talking about guys getting checked on the field, guys dropping their pants on the field, guys undoing their belts,” Britton said. “I mean, I just think the optics are just absolutely embarrassing for our game and that’s not what I want to wake up and read about, you know, regarding our game in the morning.”
The crackdown on sticky stuff like Spider tack, a weightlifting adhesive that is suspected to be behind the uptick in dominant pitchers over the last few years, began Monday with Mets’ ace and two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom handing over his hat and glove and undoing his belt for umpires to inspect as he walked off the field. It went from curiosity to spectacle Tuesday night with former Yankees and current Phillies manager Joe Girardi requesting umpires check Scherzer’s hair and then an argument ending with Girardi coming out of the dugout to challenge the Nationals dugout. Then there was A’s reliever Sergio Romo throwing down his hat, glove and belt before dropping his pants to his knees on the side of the field.
When he was examined for the third time, Scherzer unbuckled his belt. Umpire crew chief Alfonso Marquez said he told Scherzer not to undo his pants.
“Immediately I spoke with him and I said, ‘Hey, don’t get ejected over this. Let us just do our job and then we’ll be fine,’ ” Marquez said.
Meanwhile in Texas, A’s reliever Romo was checked by the umpires after pitching the seventh inning against the Rangers and allowing a home run, Romo took off his belt and dropped his pants.
“He’s a playful guy,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “I don’t think he meant anything by it. . . That won’t happen again.”
It went relatively smoothly at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. Cole was checked twice as he came off the mound and relievers were checked after they exited the mound. Royals catcher Salvador Perez was checked once and Kyle Higashioka said he was told he would be but the umpires never got around to it.
And only on Wednesday has MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoken to the press. In an interview with The Athletic, he said he thought “the first two days have gone very well.”
In his only interview about it, Manfred said it was just one incident in Philadelphia and that he feels he has been transparent with the union and players.
On the field Wednesday, Britton and many of his teammates saw it very differently.
And through it all, there have been nothing but directives issued by Manfred, who has not held a press conference or talked to the media about this sudden and drastic change to the game in the middle of the first full season coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think it’s just players speaking out about it. I would love to hear from someone from MLB answer questions, the media, like we do every day,” Britton said. “I would like to hear from Manfred, he’s the commissioner of the game. I’d love to hear Manfred answer the questions and not just the players.”
Manfred was actually in the Yankees clubhouse last week in Buffalo but Britton said he did not get a chance to speak with him. He also said it has been weeks since the union has had “meaningful” conversations with the league about how this was going to work.
Britton has no problem with MLB enforcing the rule. It has been on the books for years, but the way it has been implemented in the middle of the season and the public spectacle of it are what bothers him.
“There’s a better way to do it, but it takes more than just me or other players saying it. It takes talking with MLB and sitting down and actually hashing something out to where we can enforce rules, but not in the way that it’s being enforced,” Britton said. “I think it looks really bad for our game.”
Britton suggested that monitors that MLB now has with teams checking on their use of video rooms and used last year to make sure teams were following COVID-19 protocols like mask wearing and social distancing could do the checks before or after a pitcher is in the game in a less obvious spot.
“I’m all for cleaning up the sticky stuff. One-hundred percent. It’s gone too far. And I think we can get checked in the bullpen prior to entering the game,” Britton said. “I think guys can get checked in the dugout away from cameras, away from the fans. I just think the optics of it looked awful last night. As somebody who loves the game, I was watching other teams, and I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed that that’s what our game looks like, right now.”
