PITCHERS

Professional baseball players have a long history of cheating to gain an advantage over opponents

Detroit Tigers coaches look on and watch as Casey Mize #74 of the Detroit Tigers warms up in the bullpen during the Detroit Tigers Summer Workouts at Comerica Park on July 14, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers’ pitchers and catchers report to spring training Wednesday (Feb. 17) in Lakeland, Florida, marking the unofficial return of baseball season. READ: Here are the 7 free agents Detroit Tigers have signed this offseason, and what roles they’ll playMost of the pitching staff looks the same, with free agent signee Jose Urena the main exception. AdAll eyes will be on young starters Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning this spring. The rest of the team will join the pitchers and catchers Monday (Feb. 22), and the first spring training game is scheduled for Feb. 28.

It’s technically illegal, but sticky substances are widely used across baseball to help pitchers get a better grip and, many believe, to improve spin rate. Harkins entered into evidence a text from current New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole. Harkins claims that Verlander told him MLB began cracking down on foreign substances upon discovering that some teams were using chemists to come up with a substance to maximize spin rate. Harkins reportedly identified Cole, Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Max Scherzer, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber, Joba Chamberlain and Adam Wainwright among the pitchers who requested his pine tar/resin mixture. Free-agent pitcher Trevor Bauer has loudly argued that foreign substances can greatly improve spin rate -- and thus pitcher performance -- and has feuded in the past with Cole over the issue.

DETROIT The Detroit Tigers have stocked up on many of the top pitching prospects in baseball the last several years, and heading into this season, theres a similar logjam at the MLB level. So should the Tigers make room for Michael Fulmer? Theres no question he looked like a budding ace in his rookie season, posting a 3.06 ERA, 3.76 FIP and earning AL Rookie of the Year honors. His second season wasnt quite as strong, but Fulmer was still a 3.5 WAR pitcher over 25 starts. Do the Tigers really need to see another partial season of Zimmermann?