On Thursday the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners matched up with the Bombers losing 1-10, but something obscure was spotted on the bottom of Mariners starting pitcher, Yusei Kikuchi‘s, hat.
Here’s a video of the pine tar under Kikuchi’s hat. pic.twitter.com/oFgT5700gR
— Andrew (@Andrew_Rotondi) May 9, 2019
The Major League Baseball‘s rulebook states, “The pitcher shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball,” and a violation of the rule is a punishment of an immediate ejection and a 10-game suspension.
Yankee fans remember Michael Pineda when he was caught with a foreign substance on his neck during a game against Boston in 2014 and was given a 10 game suspension.
What does pine tar do for a pitcher?
Pine tar allows for a better grip, on both sides of the field. As a hitter, putting pine tar on your bat is completely legal; as long as it doesn’t exceed 18 inches from the bottom of the bat. For a pitcher, pine tar also allows you to get a better grip. However, it allows the pitcher to get a higher spin rate which is detrimental to a hitter on off-speed pitches.
The Seattle Mariners defeated the New York Yankees 10-1 Wednesday night. Kikuchi went 7 2/3 innings, only allowing one run on three hits. Fanning three, Kikuchi issued one walk.