With each passing day, more and more pitchers -- some of them high profile stars -- are speaking out about Major League Baseball's plan to step up enforcement of the game's ban on foreign substances on the ball, beginning Monday.
In the last few days, Tyler Glasnow, Trevor Bauer, Gerrit Cole and others have criticized the policy, saying it's too draconian, being implemented without input from players and could lead to injuries.
On Wednesday night, Red Sox starter Garrett Richards joined the ranks of those registering their disappointment.
Richards was fresh off a poor start that saw him last just four-plus innings, allowing six runs (four earned) and seven hits over four innings. Richards had struggled some in his last few starts, too, but in those outings, the spin rate on his pitches hadn't dipped. In fact, they were up in some cases.
But on Wednesday, perhaps in anticipation of the coming crackdown, the spin rate on both his fastball and slider was off considerably, and Richards didn't throw a single curveball.
In his post-game media availability, conducted over Zoom, Richards eased into the topic somewhat tepidly at first ("I'm just going out there and trying to do my best and give us a chance to win.''), but soon enough, was full throttle in his opposition to the new rules which forbids the use of anything except resin on the baseball.
"I just didn't feel convicted with any of my breaking balls tonight, so I just threw pretty much all fastballs,'' Richards said. "I think tonight spoke for itself. I'm not going to get caught up in it all, but I'll definitely say it's starting to affect people -- people and their careers. We're going to follow the rules, but this is the game you're going to get.''
Like many others, Richards finds it hard to accept that MLB is instituting the changes in the middle of the season.
"I can't think of a worse time, to be honest with you,'' he said. "I think time will tell, but I think if you just watch baseball across the league, you're going to see some interesting things. Be prepared for four-hour-long games and some interesting things. I'm just grateful that I got this far into my career before we're at this point.
"We've played the game since we've been in the big leagues, for the guys that have been around. We're trying to do our best right now. We're trying to follow the rules, simply. I don't know what else to say about it. It's definitely changing things.''
Like Glasnow, who admitted that he had been using a combination of resin and sunscreen to get a better grip of the ball, Richards tacitly admitted that he did the same.
"When I got to the field every day, I put sunscreen on,'' he said. "Well, now I can't do that. And on top of that, the only thing that's provided is the resin bag on the top of the mound, which, to be honest with you, is completely useless. It does nothing. It barely even dries up sweat. It might as well not even be there. I can't even think of the number of times in my career that I've gone to the resin bag. Sometimes, I've been on mounds that didn't have (them). It, by itself, doesn't do anything for anybody. I don't know anybody that just uses resin.
"I don't think anybody is looking for anything over the top. I think we're just trying to find something that will allow us to throw more strikes and still be able to compete. At the end of the day, don't we want both sides competing? If one side has to concede and the other side gets all the advantage, what are we doing here? We're just watering down the purity of competing.''
Richards vowed to "figure it out'' in the new environment.
"I made it through four innings with pretty much all fastballs tonight,'' he said. "Maybe I'll have to develop another pitch. I don't know. But this is where we're at and this is what we're dealing with. So we just have to make the best of it.''
Echoing the comments from Glasnow Tuesday, who connected his elbow injury to a harder grip on the ball, Richards envisions more of the same.
"I can't remember a game where I've gripped a baseball that hard,'' he said. "I definitely use a loose grip, and tonight, just to be in the zone, (I gripped it harder). I even hit two guys, and I don't hit people. I don't hit people. With two strikes, too.''
Indeed, from the start of 2018 until tonight, Richards had hit a total of four batters, then hit two batters in the span of three hitters.
"There's going to be a lot of adjustments made,'' he said. "I don't know what kind of product is going to come out of it, but I don't know, we'll figure it out.''