I want to say that it is well over 100. I was pretty surprised when I heard that, old-school pitchers would want the ball beat up and scuffed, but now they ask for a shiny new ball every 4 or so pitches. No foul balls are reused, if it hits the dirt, if it hits a bat....etc...
How exactly is he not accusing the Astros specifically of cheating? He calls them out by name. He says they're using a foreign substance, which is against the rules. That's an accusation of cheating if I've ever seen one.
Rosin is worthless if it's humid and you're sweating. Pine tar is the substance of choice to help the grip. The spray-can stuff is really, really tacky but it's a one-time deal.
Can someone give the cheater substance to Keuchel, he could use a couple mph's/higher spin rate or whatever.
<div class="reddit-embed" data-embed-media="www.redditmedia.com" data-embed-parent="false" data-embed-live="false" data-embed-uuid="ed0062e3-b347-417c-a383-eadd6888717b" data-embed-created="2018-05-03T14:10:02.847Z"><a href="">Comment</a> from discussion <a href="">[McCullers Jr.] Trevor Bauer accuses Astros pitchers of using banned substances to increase spinrate, McCullers responds</a>.</div><script async src="https://www.redditstatic.com/comment-embed.js"></script>
Using April 2017 data vs April 2018 data for a more apples to apples comparison, Cole's 4S spin rate is up about 120 rpm for the same velocity 4S fastball. Considering Bauer's data shows pine tar leads to a 200-300 bump, Cole is either really bad at using pine tar, he was using it before and is using it more now, or spin rate change is due to something with grip.
This is so dumb that if you're even talking about pitching and not making fun of whoever this Tiffany Bauer is, you're doing it wrong. Please, someone start discussing with him how jet fuel can't melt baseballs.
I think my biggest issue with the SI article (which was pretty great overall), is that the headline seems to imply that there may be some actual cheating going on, but the article pretty much goes on to provide rational explanations on increased spin rate for all of the pitchers except for Cole. In Cole's case, the article doesn't provide any reason for the increased spin rate.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-astros-arent-the-only-team-whose-pitchers-are-adding-spin/ Interesting article of spin change across the league. What is interesting is that the Pirates have a huge negative (about as negative as the increase Cole has experienced) on spin rate for 4S fastballs. Writer suspects it may be pitch labeling. What would happen if a pitcher left Pittsburgh and whatever was causing lower spin rates there?
This tyler fella won't let it go. He donates to Lance's charity with a snarky comment then lance strikes back.