Mariners’ Hector Santiago is the First Casulty of Substance Crackdown.
Video has surfaced with his denial and it is unclear what MLB will decide at this time. Chicago White Sox | MLB | Twitter
MLB has received it’s first casulty of the banned substance policy. Apparently, Mariners’ Hector Santiago was ejected from the Seattle-White Sox game. The ejection happened in the bottom of the fifth inning for violating MLB’s foreign-substance rules. The game was interrupted for a suspected substance check, in which the umpires noted something they thought was sticky on the inside of Santiago’s glove.
Umpires Examine Santiago’s glove, sending out for further examination
Mariners' Hector Santiago is ejected from the game in MLB's first foreign-substance violation since the crackdown. pic.twitter.com/0tbByrr7UO
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) June 27, 2021
Seattle left-hander is first example of MLB’s crackdown. Umpires found something sticky on the palm of his glove during a between-innings check. Additionally, the umpires kept his glove to send it out for analytics, to determine what substance was actually on the pitcher’s glove.
Hector Santiago Denies Violation, “It’s just sweat & rosin.”
Hector Santiago says he was using nothing illegal and it was just a mixture of sweat and rosin that turned sticky. pic.twitter.com/CtU1tamf8G
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) June 27, 2021
Hector Santiago adamantly denies violating the substance policy. Instead, Santiago claims that only sweat and rosin were in the glove. Additionally, the analytics have not come back to verify or negate Santiago’s claims.
MLB Ruling, Unclear
As per MLB rules, players are prohibited from intentionally altering the ball by rubbing it with any foreign substance such as soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sandpaper, or emery paper. Per the rules, rosin cannot be used in a manner that will alter the ball in any way. Yet, Baseball allows the use of rosin in general to keep sweat from interfering with performance. So, MLB needs to make their clarify their rules to make them less confusing if they want players to follow them.
Currently, MLB ruled that Santiago will serve a 10 day suspension with pay. Furthermore, the ruling is contrary to what the MLB has previously stated (without pay). And, it is unclear if that suspension with pay is while they determine the cause or final ruling. If Santiago is cleared of violations, it’s unclear what action MLB will take. Either way, Hector Santiago has made history and Twitter is alive with chatter.
