No long intro today, but when you look around the league and see all these back and hamstring issues, I start thinking about cricket. Yeah, I still don’t understand the rules, but I know that they throw some crazy stuff (“right handed leg breaker” is a good name), but that the mechanics are completely different. No mound. The run up. The straight arm. So no major elbow injuries and even the shoulder injuries aren’t as much as you’d think. So what do they have? Back issues. Hamstring issues.
They’ve done a lot of studies - imagine that, a sport working on its issues by studies - and found that it’s mostly fatigue. Injuries to bowlers happen more late in tests (which can last for days). In the faster T20 game, injuries happen late and more due to even more fatigue. Players get tired, they get hurt more and break down where the most forces are.
You can even look at the NBA playoffs where we’re seeing injuries to some of the best players and clear fatigue because of anti-workload management rules. This is one that Adam Silver got really, really wrong and needs to fix. Good workload management should help players play more and better, not less. The NBA should be transparent about this (as should every sport) - who’s overloaded and is eligible to sit? MLB could do the same, with pitchers. Maybe pitchers over a certain workload can’t be active on a given night. I haven’t thought this all the way through, but MLB should have by now to be honest.
(I woke up this morning to see that Jesse Rogers did go long with this very topic and it got the front of ESPN.com. Well worth the read.)
For now, there’s plenty of injuries so let’s get to it:
RONEL BLANCO, SP HOU (no injury)
“Stickiest stuff I’ve ever felt on a glove.” Erich Bacchus isn’t the most beloved umpire, but there’s no reason to doubt that statement about what he found when he checked Ronel Blanco. Blanco was tossed, faces at least a ten game suspension, and raises questions about his out of nowhere start to this season, one of few bright spots for the Astros.
First, I think we have to treat this like drug testing, maybe more so. We all see pitchers getting checked regularly during games, usually just as the director is cutting to commercial. It’s gotten so routine we barely notice and some umps just go through the motions, but Blanco’s stuff was on his glove, easily detectable. I think if he regularly did this, especially during a no-hitter, he would have been caught then. Blanco had been checked earlier in the game and nothing. I I think the no-hitter and every game but this one is likely untainted. I’d love if there was a bit more evidence, but things like spin rate that might give us some insight seem to be within norms. I’d like to see per game rates.
Second, what was the substance? We’ve known pitchers used a number of substances before the crackdown and some have figured out how to sneak past umps. “Stickiest stuff ever” seems like something like SpiderTack or the like, which are still readily available. Even after That Guy outed some of the substances used, pitchers and teams (yes, teams) still often had their own concoctions. Blanco and Joe Espada told the media that it was rosin Blanco had put on his forearm. Espada said he could see a white powder on the glove when shown, but would sweat and rosin be the “stickiest stuff ever”?
My guess is that Blanco had such a hot start to his season that when he became mortal again and the league adjusted to him or the heater he was on started to cool, he started looking for a way to get an advantage. He’s been around long enough in the minors to learn some tricks and see all the usage before the crackdown. Or maybe something just got on his glove like rosin. With him out for what’s likely two starts without roster relief, the Astros are going to have to figure out how to replace Blanco, who’s been their savior. Jose Urquidy is scheduled to have one more rehab start at Double-A on Saturday, but that may need to be with Houston now, or they could go with a bullpen game and then slot Urquidy back.
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