LEADING OFF: MLB begins checking pitchers for sticky stuff

A look at what's happening around the majors on Monday:

STUCK UP

Major League Baseball begins its crackdown against pitchers using sticky substances when umpires start making regular, random mound checks.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole isn’t sure what to expect.

“I think I’m in the same boat as everyone else, just waiting for this to play out,” he said.

Pitchers will be ejected and suspended for 10 games if caught using foreign substances to doctor baseballs. Such grip aids — ranging from a tacky mix of rosin and sunscreen to heavy duty concoctions designed for use in strongman competitions — have long been illegal, but the ban has rarely been enforced.

Umps will check all starters multiple times and all relievers either at the end of his first inning or when removed, whichever occurs first. Caps, gloves and fingertips will be checked.

“It definitely will be probably a little awkward,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “But we’ll get through it, adjust.”

ALL EYES ON JAKE

Jacob deGrom is still listed as a probable starter in a doubleheader against Atlanta and no doubt Mets management, players and fans will be closely watching every pitch the New York ace throws after recent health scares.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award is having a historically dominant season, with an 0.54 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 67 innings, going 6-2 in 11 starts.

But deGrom exited his last start after three perfect innings because of a sore right shoulder, which he might have aggravated taking a swing. In his previous outing, he was pulled after six innings with flexor tendinitis in his pitching arm.

Medical tests haven’t revealed anything significant and deGrom says he feels fine to face the Braves at Citi Field. Plenty of outsiders, naturally, have been...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-MLB-begins-checking-pitchers-for-16261331.php