Rules crackdown did not necessarily fix long-term problem of pitchers dominating batters, but did patch a new sudden crisis in 2021 of pitchers dominating even more than they were
Pitchers won fewer Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors after a Major League Baseball sticky-substance rule crackdown in June, but pitchers still dominated in 2021.
Week-by-week 2021 Player of the Game winners, pitchers vs. batters
Pitchers won comparatively fewer Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 2021 after the June crackdown on pitchers using foreign, sticky substances to better grip the baseball. Still, pitchers dominated in 2021, winning more than 60 percent of all Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors compared to batters.Here is a week-by-week look at how often pitchers and batters won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 2021. First column is the week (based on a Friday-to-Thursday week), next is the number of games played in that week, followed by the number of pitchers who won Player of the Game honors that week, the percentage of pitchers winning Player of the Game honors, the number of batters winning Player of the Game honors and the percentage of batters winning Player of the Game honors. Numbers in red indicate pitchers won 60 percent or more of Player of the Game honors in that week, blue indicates pitchers won between 50 and 60 percent and green indicates batters won more than 50 percent (which they did one week, Sept. 17-23).
| Week | Games | Pitchers | Pct. | Batters | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/1‑4/8 | 97 | 74 | 76.3% | 23 | 23.7% |
| 4/9‑4/15 | 88 | 57 | 64.8% | 31 | 35.2% |
| 4/16‑4/22 | 87 | 59 | 67.8% | 28 | 32.2% |
| 4/23‑4/29 | 95 | 64 | 67.4% | 31 | 32.6% |
| 4/30‑5/6 | 95 | 56 | 58.9% | 39 | 41.1% |
| 5/7‑5/13 | 90 | 59 | 65.6% | 31 | 34.4% |
| 5/14‑5/20 | 96 | 58 | 60.4% | 38 | 39.6% |
| 5/21‑5/27 | 96 | 67 | 69.8% | 29 | 30.2% |
| 5/28‑6/3 | 92 | 60 | 65.2% | 32 | 34.8% |
| 6/4‑6/10 | 87 | 55 | 63.2% | 32 | 36.8% |
| 6/11‑6/17 | 98 | 64 | 65.3% | 34 | 34.7% |
| 6/18‑6/24 | 92 | 54 | 58.7% | 38 | 41.3% |
| 6/25‑7/1 | 95 | 48 | 50.5% | 47 | 49.5% |
| 7/2‑7/8 | 95 | 52 | 54.7% | 44 | 46.3% |
| 7/9‑7/15 | 44 | 24 | 54.5% | 20 | 45.5% |
| 7/16‑7/22 | 95 | 53 | 55.8% | 42 | 44.2% |
| 7/23‑7/29 | 95 | 57 | 60.0% | 38 | 40.0% |
| 7/30‑8/5 | 95 | 50 | 52.6% | 45 | 47.4% |
| 8/6‑8/12 | 95 | 63 | 66.3% | 32 | 33.7% |
| 8/13‑8/19 | 95 | 56 | 58.9% | 39 | 41.1% |
| 8/20‑8/26 | 90 | 60 | 66.7% | 30 | 33.3% |
| 8/27‑9/2 | 92 | 61 | 66.3% | 31 | 33.7% |
| 9/3‑9/9 | 96 | 48 | 50.0% | 48 | 50.0% |
| 9/10‑9/16 | 93 | 54 | 58.1% | 39 | 41.9% |
| 9/17‑9/23 | 96 | 45 | 46.9% | 51 | 53.1% |
| 9/24‑9/30 | 95 | 49 | 51.6% | 46 | 48.4% |
| 10/1‑10/3 | 45 | 23 | 51.1% | 22 | 48.9% |
| Total | 2429 | 1470 | 60.5% | 960 | 39.5% |
In the early part of the season, pitchers were holding batters to record-low batting averages, strikeouts were at an all-time high and balls were being put in play less than ever. Pitchers threw six no-hitters in the first two months of the season, threatening to shatter the record for most no-hitters in a season—eight in 1884 and the “modern” record–seven in 1990, 1991, 2012 and 2015.
But in June, Major League Baseball began a rules crackdown on pitchers, having umpires routinely check their gloves, belts and hats for illegal sticky, foreign substances. These substances, such as sunscreen, pine tar or the commercially available Spider Tack, allow pitchers to better grip the ball and improve the ball’s spin rate, creating pitches with more movement and speed that are harder to hit.
And the rules crackdown did seem to work:
Prior to June 21, batters won just 34.5 percent of all Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors (368 of 1,067 games played).
On June 21 and after, batters won 43.5 percent of all Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors (592 of 1,362 games played).
Of course, this still meant that even after June 21, pitchers were still winning the vast majority of Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. But the rate of their dominance decreased from 65.5 percent prior to the June 21 rules crackdown and 56.5 percent after.
And while batters did gain from the rules crackdown, pitchers came within a whisker of setting a new record in 2021 for highest share of Box-Toppers points earned in a single season compared to batters. Pitchers earned 1,757.5 of the 2,888.4 Box-Toppers points awarded in 2021 (60.85 percent), compared to batters earning 1,130.9 (39.15 percent). That fell just short of the record of 60.86 percent of points won by pitchers in 2014.
Looking back with some perspective after the season is over, it seems the rules crackdown did not necessarily fix the long-term problem of pitchers dominating batters. But it did patch a new sudden crisis in 2021 of pitchers dominating the game even more than they were. Early in the season, pitchers were on track to earning 65 percent or more of all Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and points, leaving batters as mostly hapless strikeout victims winning only about one-third of the time.
This wasn’t always the case. Prior to 2010, batters generally won half or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded. But in 2010 and after, batters’ rate of earning points dropped precipitously and remains near 40 percent. The rules crackdown in 2021 did nothing to restore the previous balance between batters and pitchers but only, perhaps, from making the advantage even more skewed in favor of pitchers.
Since 1995, Box-Toppers has tracked who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
(Note that because of Box-Toppers bonus points there is a slight difference between share of Player of the Game honors earned and share of Box-Toppers points earned. For example, in 2021, pitchers earned 60.52 percent of all Player of the Game honors, but 60.85 percent of all Box-Toppers points awarded.)
In early weeks of 2021, pitchers dominate
The problem of pitcher super dominance began early in 2021. During the first week of the season, from April 1 to 8, pitchers won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 74 of the 97 games played, while batters won just 23 times. That one-week rate of pitchers winning 76.3 percent of all Player of the Game honors was a major anomaly.
Batters regained slightly in the early weeks of the season, exceeding 30 percent of Player of the Game honors in the second week and passing 40 percent (41.1) during the fifth week, April 30 to May 6. But even with the improvement, pitchers were still winning the lion’s share of Player of the Game honors and at a record pace.
On June 3, Major League Baseball informed team owners that beginning June 21, umpires would more strictly enforce the rules against pitchers using foreign, sticky substances on baseballs. The graphic above Batters make gains in 2021 after foreign substance ban shows batters gradually gaining week-by-week after the ban was announced. And the week after June 21, when the ban was announced, batters nearly pulled even with pitchers on Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors earned. During the week of June 25 to July 1, batters won Player of the Game honors in 47 of the 95 games (49.5 percent), while pitchers won in 48 (50.5 percent). (For details, see chart Week-by-week 2021 Player of the Game winners, pitchers vs. batters).
However, that parity was short-lived. By the next week (July 2 to 8), pitchers retook the advantage (54.7 percent to 46.3 percent) and generally increased the lead, including three weeks in August in which pitchers earned nearly two-thirds or more of all Player of the Game honors:
The week of Aug. 6-12, pitchers won 66.3 percent of all Player of the Game honors.
The week of Aug. 20-26, pitchers won 66.7 percent of all Player of the Game honors.
The week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2, pitchers won 66.3 percent of all Player of the Game honors.
Despite the stricter enforcement of the sticky substance rule, pitchers were still winning the overwhelming majority of Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
However, something changed again in September and batters pulled into a more equitable balance with pitchers:
The week of Sept. 3-9, batters won exactly half of all Player of the Game honors (48 times in 96 games).
The week of Sept. 17-23, batters won the majority of Player of the Game honors for the only week of the season, winning 51 times in 96 games (53.1 percent).
The week of Sept. 24-30, batters won 48.4 percent of Player of the Game honors (46 times in 95 games).
And in the final weekend of the season, Oct. 1-3, batters fell one game short of winning a majority of Player of the Game honors, winning 48.9 percent (22 times in 45 games).
Overall in the final month of the season, batters won 47.9 percent of all Player of the Game honors (214 times in 447 games), which is batters’ best month since the start of 2019 (beating August 2019, when they won Player of the Game honors in 47.6 percent of games). [Story continues below graphic.]
Month-by-month Player of the Game winners, pitchers vs. batters, 2019 to 2021
Here is a month-by-month look at how often pitchers and batters won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors from 2019 to 2021 (including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season). First column is the month, next is the number of games played in that month, followed by the number of pitchers who won Player of the Game honors that month, the percentage of pitchers winning Player of the Game honors, the number of batters winning Player of the Game honors and the percentage of batters winning Player of the Game honors. Numbers in red indicate pitchers won 60 percent or more of Player of the Game honors in that month and blue indicates pitchers won between 50 and 60 percent.| Month | Games | Pitchers | Pct. | Batters | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/19* | 437 | 267 | 61.1% | 170 | 38.9% |
| 5/19 | 413 | 234 | 56.7% | 179 | 43.3% |
| 6/19 | 404 | 233 | 57.7% | 171 | 42.3% |
| 7/19 | 366 | 199 | 54.4% | 167 | 45.6% |
| 8/19 | 416 | 218 | 52.4% | 198 | 47.6% |
| 9/19 | 393 | 235 | 59.8% | 158 | 40.2% |
| 7/20 | 104 | 58 | 55.8% | 46 | 44.2% |
| 8/20 | 405 | 228 | 56.3% | 177 | 43.7% |
| 9/20 | 389 | 232 | 59.6% | 157 | 40.4% |
| 4/21 | 382 | 262 | 68.6% | 120 | 31.4% |
| 5/21 | 417 | 270 | 64.7% | 147 | 35.3% |
| 6/21 | 398 | 239 | 60.1% | 159 | 39.9% |
| 7/21 | 370 | 205 | 55.4% | 165 | 44.6% |
| 8/21 | 415 | 260 | 62.7% | 155 | 37.3% |
| 9/21** | 447 | 233 | 52.1% | 214 | 47.9% |
** September 2021 includes games played in October.
Batters improve as seasons progress
Looking back at 2019, the last full season prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, batters tended to win a greater share of Player of the Game honors as the season progressed. That trend seemed to be happening in 2021, except that in 2019, the gap between pitchers and batters was much closer at the start of the season (see graphic Monthly look at Player of the Game winners, 2019-2021 and chart Month-by-month Player of the Game winners, pitchers vs. batters, 2019 to 2021). In April 2019, pitchers won 61.1 percent of all Player of the Game honors, while in April 2021, pitchers won 68.6 percent. In 2019, batters improved each month on the share of Player of the Game honors earned, hitting their high of 47.6 percent in August 2019.
In 2021, batters earned a larger share of Box-Toppers points in May (going from 31.4 percent in April to 35.3 percent in May). The rules crackdown, announced in early June with enforcement beginning in late June, seemed to improve batters fortunes again–batters increased their share of Player of the Game honors won to 39.9 percent.
The first month after the change went into effect, July 2021, batters’ share improved again to 44.6 percent. But for some reason, pitchers returned to their dominant ways in August 2021, winning 62.7 percent of all Player of the Game honors and holding batters to under 40 percent again (37.3). Batters rebounded, however, in September 2021, their best month of the season, winning 47.9 percent of all Player of the Game honors.
Pitchers still dominant in 2021 after crackdown
Despite the stricter rules enforcement put in place to help batters, pitchers in 2021 still had their second-best season measured by share of Box-Toppers points won. In the 27 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, pitchers did marginally better than 2021 in only one season–2014.
From 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, through the 2009 season, batters generally earned half or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded (see graphic Box-Toppers points earned by batters plunge after 2009 and chart Year-by-year share of total Box-Toppers points earned by batters, 1995-2021).
But in 2010 and after, batters’ share of Box-Toppers points earned dropped precipitously and remains near 40 percent. During three seasons, batters won fewer than 40 percent of all points awarded:
In 2014, batters won a record-low 39.14 percent of all points awarded (1,128.8 of 2,883.7).
In 2018, batters won 39.35 percent of all points awarded (1,137.6 of 2,890.9).
In 2021, batters won 39.15 percent of all points awarded (1,130.9 of 2,888.4). Had batters earned just 0.3 points fewer, it would have broken the 2014 record for lowest share of points won by batters. [Story continues below graphic.]
Year-by-year share of total Box-Toppers points earned by batters, 1995-2021
From 1995 to 2009, batters consistently earned 50 percent or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded each season. But in 2010, batters share of all points earned dropped precipitiously and has never recovered. Since 2011, the share earned by batters has been below 45 percent, including three seasons below 40 percent—2014, 2018 and the most recent season, 2021.In 2021, batters earned 39.15 percent of all points awarded—1,130.9 of 2,888.4. Had batters earned only 0.3 fewer points in 2021, it would have broken the low-point record set in 2014, when batters won just 39.14 percent of all points awarded. And this happened despite more stringent rule-enforcement being put in place in mid-season intended to make pitchers less dominant.
Here is a look at the share of total Box-Toppers points earned by batters each season, since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. The remaining share of points was won by pitchers each season. The “Difference” column shows the percentage point difference in the share of points between batters and pitchers each season, ranging from the largest lead by batters (+13.83% in 2000) to the largest deficit by batters (-21.71% in 2014). Numbers in red indicate batters won fewer than 40 percent of Box-Toppers points, blue indicates batters won between 40 and 50 percent and green indicates batters won more than half of all points awarded.
| Year | Batters BTP % | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 55.09% | +10.17% |
| 1996 | 55.26% | +10.52% |
| 1997 | 53.84% | +7.67% |
| 1998 | 50.14% | +0.29% |
| 1999 | 55.84% | +11.67% |
| 2000 | 56.91% | +13.83% |
| 2001 | 51.59% | +3.18% |
| 2002 | 49.71% | -0.59% |
| 2003 | 52.35% | +4.71% |
| 2004 | 51.49% | +2.98% |
| 2005 | 51.45% | +2.91% |
| 2006 | 51.86% | +3.71% |
| 2007 | 51.44% | +2.88% |
| 2008 | 50.12% | +0.24% |
| 2009 | 50.16% | +0.31% |
| 2010 | 45.76% | -8.48% |
| 2011 | 44.82% | -10.37% |
| 2012 | 43.66% | -12.68% |
| 2013 | 41.21% | -17.58% |
| 2014 | 39.14% | -21.71% |
| 2015 | 41.09% | -17.81% |
| 2016 | 42.13% | -15.75% |
| 2017 | 44.18% | -11.64% |
| 2018 | 39.35% | -21.30% |
| 2019 | 42.42% | -15.16% |
| 2020 | 41.98% | -16.04% |
| 2021 | 39.15% | -21.69% |
Why have batters fallen so far?
What happened between 2009 and 2010 to cause batters to slip so suddenly and so far? It could be that performance enhancing drug use, such as steroids, were becoming less prevalent after baseball cracked down on rules restricting their use in the mid-2000s. While both pitchers and batters are thought to have used PEDs, it could be that batters were more affected by their absence, causing their performance to drop.
Radical defensive infield shifts became more popular around this time—often pulling three infielders to one side of the diamond—which rendered what would have been hits into ground ball outs.
Managers focused more on situational pitching, pitching starters for fewer innings and often pulling them before they faced the line up for the third time, since stats show batters fared better against pitchers after they had seen them twice in the same game. Relievers became more specialized and used for shorter periods. Managers focused on pitchers getting outs and it could be their success at achieving them showed up in Box-Toppers statistics with pitchers winning increased Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points.
Pitchers also focused on speed and control. By the mid-2010s, cameras at Major League ballparks could better measure the speed, trajectory, spin and break of a pitched ball. Teams analyzed these statistics and coached players to improve, in part, by increasing the pitched ball’s spin rate. Some found that to improve spin rate, it helped to be able to better grip the ball to better control it as it was released. And to better grip the ball, some pitchers used foreign, sticky substances, which technically, were banned under baseball’s rules. More strict enforcement by umpires did not begin until mid-2021 when the problem of tacky baseballs turned into a sticky situation of pitcher dominance.
Batters tried to adapt in light of these changes–loss of PEDs, defensive shifts, situational pitching and focus on spin rate—by trying to swing for the fences more frequently. Thanks to the shift, hitting a ground ball would more frequently result in an out, but if batters could hit the ball over fielders’ heads—preferably over the fence for a home run—there was less chance to make an out. But that has resulted in more strikeouts and lower batting averages. And it has also resulted in batters earning far fewer Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and a far lower share of Box-Toppers points compared to pitchers.
Conclusions
Pitchers using sticky substances seem to have been just one small element giving them a decade’s-long dominance over batters. Eliminating that for most of 2021 hasn’t seemed to bring balance back between pitchers and batters—pitchers are still dominant. The crackdown did seem to put a makeshift repair on a crisis that seemed on the horizon for 2021 of pitchers winning two-thirds or even three-quarters of all Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points. It might have reduced the game to watching batters strikeout, walk or hit a home run, making the game less varied and more boring—less fun to watch and less fun to track.
But more needs to be done to bring batters back into balance with pitchers. But what? Rules restricting defensive shifts? Rules restricting the number of pitchers on a roster? Moving back the pitching mound or lowering it? Or do batters just need to figure out a way to get better, the way pitchers figured out ways they could improve a pitch’s spin rate? Admittedly, it’s easier said than done.
Even with the rules crackdown in place, there were still three more no-hitters thrown in the Major Leagues after June 21, bringing the total to nine for the season, breaking the all-time record set in 1884. Those three no-hitters after June 21, by themselves, were as many or more than had been pitched in an entire complete season (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) in 20 of the 25 past seasons going back to 1995. The only five seasons with more than three no-hitters were all after 2009: 2010 (six), 2012 (seven), 2014 (four), 2015 (seven) and 2019 (four).
Timeline
Here are key events in 2021 in Major League Baseball’s rules crackdown on pitchers using foreign, sticky substances:
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole
A Box-Toppers look at Gerrit Cole’s 2021 starts
Eyes were on Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole after baseball began enforcing the foreign, sticky substance ban on pitchers.This chart shows each of Cole’s start dates in 2021, whether or not the Yankees won the game (Y/N), how many Box-Toppers points Cole earned for the game (1.0 for Player of the Game, 1.7 for AL Player of the Day and 2.0 for overall Player of the Day), his 2021 Box-Toppers point total to that point in the season and his overall rank among all players.
Cole struggled in his June 3 start after the ban was announced but bounced back in subsequent appearances, earning Player of the Game honors on both June 9 and June 16.
However, after the ban went into effect on June 21, Cole failed to win Player of the Game honors in three straight starts (June 22, June 27 and July 4). Again, he bounced back, winning Player of the Game honors in six of his next eight starts from July 10 to Sept. 1.
However, Cole had his longest drought of the season after that, failing to win Player of the Game honors in his final five starts.
Cole rose to the lead in Box-Toppers points in May, but fell to third after the sticky substance ban, before rebounding to the lead in August. He fell to second place overall in September, where he finished the season.
| Start | Win?* | BTP earned | BTP total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/1 | N | 0.0 | 0.0 | - |
| 4/6 | Y | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 4/12 | Y | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 4/18 | N | 0.0 | 3.0 | 8 |
| 4/24 | Y | 2.0 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 4/30 | Y | 2.0 | 7.0 | 2 |
| 5/6 | N | 0.0 | 7.0 | 2 |
| 5/12 | Y | 2.0 | 9.0 | 1 |
| 5/17 | N | 0.0 | 9.0 | 1 |
| 5/22 | Y | 1.7 | 10.7 | 1 |
| 5/28 | N | 0.0 | 10.7 | 2 |
| 6/3 | N | 0.0 | 10.7 | 2 |
| 6/9 | Y | 1.7 | 12.4 | 2 |
| 6/16 | Y | 1.0 | 13.4 | 1 |
| 6/22 | N | 0.0 | 13.4 | 2 |
| 6/27 | N | 0.0 | 13.4 | 2 |
| 7/4 | N | 0.0 | 13.4 | 3 |
| 7/10 | Y | 2.0 | 15.4 | 2 |
| 7/17 | Y | 1.0 | 16.4 | 2 |
| 7/23 | N | 0.0 | 16.4 | 2 |
| 7/29 | N | 0.0 | 16.4 | 2 |
| 8/16 | Y | 2.0 | 18.4 | 1 |
| 8/21 | Y | 1.0 | 19.4 | 1 |
| 8/27 | Y | 1.0 | 20.4 | 1 |
| 9/1 | Y | 2.0 | 22.4 | 1 |
| 9/7 | N | 0.0 | 22.4 | 1 |
| 9/14 | Y | 0.0 | 22.4 | 2 |
| 9/19 | N | 0.0 | 22.4 | 2 |
| 9/24 | Y | 0.0 | 22.4 | 2 |
| 9/29 | N | 0.0 | 22.4 | 2 |
June 3—Baseball informs team owners of the coming crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances. That day, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole fared relatively poorly in his start against the Rays (5IP 5H 5R 2BB 7K L), a 6-3 loss. More notably, the spin rate on Cole’s fastball decreased from about 2,500 rotations per minute to about 2,350. Cole blamed the decrease on his pitching mechanics. At the time, Cole ranked second in Box-Toppers points among all players with 10.7.
June 5—Josh Donaldson of the Twins accuses Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole of using Spider Tack, a commercially-available tacky substance that allows a better grip. Used on baseballs, it allows pitchers to better grip the ball and increase its spin rate, giving the pitched ball more movement and making it more unhittable. “Is it coincidence that Gerrit Cole’s spin rate numbers went down after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?” Donaldson said. “Is that possible? I don’t know. Maybe. At the same time, with this situation, they’ve let guys do it.”
June 9—Cole earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and American League Player of the Day honors in the 9-6 win over the Twins (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 9K W). His fastball averaged 98.2 miles per hour, above his season average of 97.3. His four-seam fastball spin rate was 2,493 rpm, better than the 2,436 he averaged June 3 against the Rays, but below his season average 2,547, according to a June 9 ESPN.com story by David Schoenfield. Donaldson went 0-for-3 against Cole, striking out swinging twice.
June 15—MLB announces 10-game suspension for any player caught using foreign substances on baseballs.
June 15—Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow blames the crackdown on foreign substances as the cause for his elbow injury that ended his season, requiring Tommy John surgery. Glasnow was leading all players in Box-Toppers points at the time with 12.7. Glasnow, who was used to using sunscreen and rosin to grip the baseball, said the balls used in his June 14 game against the White Sox were slick and required a tighter grip without the use of foreign substances. Glasnow focused the blame for his injury to the immediate ramp-up to using nothing but rosin on the ball. “I just threw 80 … innings, and then you told me I can’t use anything in the middle of the year. I had to change everything I’ve been doing the entire season. … And I’m telling you, I truly believe that’s why I got hurt.” Glasnow said the change should have been made in the offseason to allow a time for adjustment. Glasnow exited early in the June 14 win over the White Sox (4IP 3H 2R BB 6K ND). He likely won’t pitch again until 2023.
June 21—Crackdown on foreign substances officially begins as umpires begin inspecting all pitchers for foreign substances on gloves and hats.
June 27—Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago becomes the first pitcher ejected for violating the foreign substance rule in the first week of the new crackdown. Umpires inspected his glove and found a sticky substance in the palm. Santiago earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2021, on June 17.
July 2—A Washington Post report shows the average adjusted spin rate for pitchers had decreased since the crackdown was announced June 3. The statistic—expressed as revolutions per minute divided by miles per hour—ranged from about 24.5 to 25.5 in April and May, but dropped to a range of 23.5 to 24.5 after June 3. That number had been increasing on average each season from 2017 to 2021, until it dipped after June 3. As a result, more batters with two strikes were making contact rather than striking out.
July 19—A New York Times report shows during the first month of the crackdown, spin rates on fastballs fell 4 percent, strikeouts decreased and on-base percentage had risen.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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