There’s been a lot in the news lately about Spider Tack and other sticky stuff pitchers use. Gerrit Cole was asked point-blank if he used the substance, but he didn’t shine much light on the matter.

This much we know. The use of some foreign objects among pitchers has been rampant. MLB is actively investigating and umpires have already confiscated a pitcher’s hat. Both Cole and Trevor Bauer experienced a drop in their RPM in their most recent starts.

Thanks to MLB Daily for this hilarious image. They’re a great follow on Twitter and have a daily baseball podcast plus trivia.

Pete Alonso had an interesting take on the new baseballs being used this season. He suggested that Major League Baseball manipulates the balls based on the strength of the upcoming free agency class.

While his theory isn’t wholly unbelievable, it came across as paranoid and was presented as if it were factual.

My guess is that this whole thing will blow over, and that’s just what MLB wants.

ASG Voting Update

I did make a few changes to my All-Star ballot this week. I added Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles and took out Mitch Hainger. His insane stretch of hits in 9 consecutive plate appearances brought light to the fact that he’s having a marvelous season.

He’s hitting .321 and leads the American League in hits with 78. He’s third in the AL in WAR (2.9) among position players. 

His place on the team is most secure. I feel good about Judge and García too, but I’ll continue to try to be judicious.

By Wednesday, I made another switch. Jake Cronenworth in, Ryan McMahon out. McMahon has cooled off this month, and Cronenworth deserves it. The following day Shohei Ohtani made his first appearance on my ballot at DH.

After watching Rafael Devers make his tenth error of the season I replaced him with Yoán Moncada. His place on my ballot was short-lived, however. The next day I pivoted to José Ramírez.

You Love Me, You Really Love Me!

A couple of weeks ago I recorded a video with Belly Up Sports baseball intern Julie Mulholland. It was a live reaction video to my first look at the MLB standings. Just trying to do something different. I was hoping for maybe a few dozen views.

YouTube player

The response has been overwhelming! Over 1000 views in a week! It was fun and I’m pleased to say that we’ll be making another one. Next week Julie and I will be recording another video. A rapid-fire run-through of our All-Star Game picks to cap off my media tour.

I hope you will show as much love to this upcoming video as you did to the previous one. Have a great week everyone!

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it! Check out more of my articles here and other Belly Up content here. Follow me on Twitter here.
About Author

Graeme Wallace

My name is Graeme Wallace and I love sports I grew up with the Blue Jays World Series Championship teams in '92 and '93. There were some lean years in between but some good ones too, all leading up to Jose Bautista's epic bat flip in 2015. I'm so excited to be a part of Belly Up Sports!

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