Astros Pitching Coach Comes Dangerously Close to Admitting Team Was Using Spin-Altering Grip Substances
By Brendan Balsamo
The Houston Astros are notorious for saving the careers of veteran pitchers perhaps a few seasons past their prime, or in some cases building upon the strengths of young starters who just needed some tutelage. Justin Verlander, after eyeing his baseball mortality in his final seasons with Detroit, has seen a career revival. Charlie Morton's career path changed entirely. Gerrit Cole went from having a 4.26 ERA in Pittsburgh in 2017 to a 2.50 ERA with Houston in 2019.
With all the hate going around with the Astros sign-stealing scandal, there's some paranoia surrounding all facets of Houston's game, including their pitching. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Astros pitching coach Brent Terry Strom nearly conceded just that.
basically, the Astros pitching coach comes juuuust shy of admitting they were cheating with spin-altering pitch grip substances. Or, he says they were using pine tar but it wasn't "systematic" and they didn't consult "an outside chemist" ?
— Rob Arthur (@No_Little_Plans) March 2, 2020
Strom said they never consulted an "outside chemist" and "never went to get like certain percentages of sticky stuff."
He did admit to pitchers using pine tar, but as Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Trevor Bauer has let the public know, a majority of MLB pitchers use some form of sticky substance.
It is truly disturbing how many Astros players have been beaned during spring training. pic.twitter.com/kpy2Brvop0
— ?Ross Bolen (@WRBolen) March 2, 2020
While Strom is right in that most MLB pitchers do use pine tar to help with grip and spin rate, his understanding of the science and the Astros' history of bending the rules to their will makes this hard to believe.
The Astros just keep giving the league more reasons to hate them.