Phillies All-Star reliever’s feelings clear on | Sports News

Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy could also be in opposition to torpedo bats, however Philadelphia Phillies’ Matt Strahm just isn’t. The 2024 All-Star aid pitcher took to Twitter with a daring stance: “Let them use whatever bat they want.

“Let’s simply permit pitchers to make use of no matter hitters have within the on-deck circle,” he continued. “And not examine us like we’re criminals each time we stroll on or off the sector. I’m simply a pitcher, however I’m assuming higher grip helps ya swing tougher.”

Back in 2021, MLB started imposing a midseason crackdown on pitchers using substances for better grip in an attempt to boost offense – banning Spider Tack, Pelican Tack, and even sunscreen.

Strahm later clarified his position, tweeting that he wasn’t advocating for all sticky substances: “Not sticky [stuff] trigger some of that stuff was a bit a lot. Just no matter a hitter can use to grip a bat higher we are able to use too,” likely referring to pine tar.

The New York Yankees recently set an MLB record for most home runs in the first four games of a season, hitting 18 and starting strong with a 3-1 record. Players like Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm have shown potential benefits from using torpedo bats – a trend not new to this season, as seen with Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton last year.

Around the league, other players have experimented with torpedo bats, finding success in most cases. This includes Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and Strahm’s teammate on the Phillies, Alec Bohm.

Strahm – a seasoned 10-year pro – is coming off his career-best season. Last year, he pitched 66.2 innings, boasting an impressive 1.87 ERA, notching 79 strikeouts, and maintaining a stellar 0.75 WHIP.

The question of whether he used any substances to enhance his grip in 2021 remains unanswered. It’s worth noting that many pitchers, like Yankees’ injured star Gerrit Cole, did use substances (within the rules, that is).

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“Hitters have by no means actually cared about sunscreen, rosin and pine tar,” Josh Donaldson, then with the Minnesota Twins, remarked in 2021. Ironically, Donaldson would become Cole’s teammate the following season.

“We have not cared about that as a result of it is not a efficiency enhancement. What these guys are doing now are performance-enhancing, to the place it’s an precise tremendous glue-type of ordeal, to the place it is not about command anymore…. Now, it is about who’s throwing the nastiest pitches, the more unhittable pitches.”