Simultaneously one of Major League Baseball’s best pitchers and biggest tools (for a number of reasons), Trevor Bauer is upset that it is being reported that MLB confiscated some of the baseballs he used during a game to see if they had been doctored.
“The umpires in Bauer’s start against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday collected multiple balls he threw during the game, according to major-league sources,” The Athletic reported. “The balls had visible markings and were sticky, and were sent to the league offices for further inspection, the sources said. Yet, even if the balls Bauer threw are found to have contained foreign substances, it remains to be seen whether the league can prove he was responsible for their application, or whether any punishment imposed by commissioner Rob Manfred would stand.”
(Per a memo that was sent to teams last month, players can be disciplined by the Commissioner’s Office whether evidence of doctoring the ball is found before or after games. The burden of proof required to hand down that discipline does appear to be somewhat of a gray area.)
Bauer, who allowed two runs in 6.2 innings against the A’s while striking out 10 and walking one, sounded off about the situation via his Twitter account and used some great emojis.
“Lol always fun reading desperate and misleading clickbait headlines from national gossip bloggers,” he wrote. “To translate fake journalist speak for y’all, ‘It’s unclear whether’ = ‘I can’t be bothered to look into this cuz it doesn’t fit my narrative.’ Wonder where the articles about balls from every other pitcher being taken out of play in literally every other game this season are? Also lol to @MLB who already has ‘sources’ talking to gossip bloggers about a supposedly confidential process a week into the season.”
In a response to MLB’s March memo about potential discipline for pitchers applying foreign substances to the ball, Bauer criticized the league’s effort to crack down on cheating, per The Los Angeles Times. “They’re going to, after the game, be able to go back and if you tested positive — or if your baseball tested positive for a foreign substance — they’re going to be able to suspend you or discipline you or whatever the case may be,” Bauer said in a video. “I have a problem with that.”
Perhaps Bauer, who was forced to miss his start in a 2016 playoff game after injuring his pinky finger in an accident involving his drone, will record a new rap to respond to all the haters. He really, really should.
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