Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman was forced to leave Monday's game against the Yankees after five innings and 79 pitches due to a blister, the first of his career. The 5'8" hurler, who has been Toronto's best starter, is the second Blue Jays pitcher to be sidelined with blister issues this season. Aaron Sanchez, the 2016 American League ERA leader, has been limited to five games and been out for over six weeks with ongoing hand and blister issues, which has forced him to already make three trips to the disabled list.In addition to the two young Blue Jays hurlers, a number of big-name pitchers have also experienced blisters. Boston's David Price, Mets ace Noah Syndergaard, the Dodgers' Rich Hill, Oakland's Jharel Cotton, Arizona's Taijuan Walker, and Giants righty Johnny Cueto have all had blister issues at some point during the season as well.Stroman, who has never dealt with blister problems before, senses a pattern and insinuated that he believes something fishy is occurring. He feels the league should be looking into this matter to discover why pitchers keep experiencing the nagging, tedious skin injuries.
"I feel it's an epidemic that's happened across the big leagues right now—a bunch of pitchers getting blisters, guys who have never had blisters before. So, for MLB to turn their back to it, I think that's kind of crazy. Extremely frustrating," he said following Monday's game."I have no theory, but obviously, I mean, it's not a coincidence that it's happening to so many guys all of a sudden. It's not a coincidence."Hitters have been setting records for home run totals, distances, and velocities throughout the 2017 MLB season, causing several across the game to theorize that baseballs may be juiced, which is achieved by lowering the seams on the ball, resulting in a greater trajectory off the bat. It's not known whether there is any correlation to blister issues occurring as a result of balls being juiced—or whether balls are in fact even juiced—but Stroman is the latest pitcher to voice his concern. Pitchers like Price, Chris Archer, Brad Ziegler, Justin Verlander, as well as Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen and manager Terry Collins, were among those who expressed skepticism to USA Today Sports surrounding the feel of MLB baseballs—from the seams to the hardness to the way the ball is traveling off the bat.
In response to the growing concern and criticism, the league recently sent a memo to all 30 major league clubs, stating that "there is no evidence that the composition of the ball has changed in any way."Stroman was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic after leading Team USA to a championship in March, and is 8-5 this season with a career-best 3.42 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and the second-highest groundball rate among qualified starters. He's been one of the lone bright spots of an underperforming Jays starting rotation, and the timing for the injury couldn't be any worse for player or team, which entered the Fourth of July on a five-game losing skid.Blisters are nothing new to baseball, but the prevalence and severity of them among big-name pitchers this season is clearly raising some concern for players and personnel around the majors. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, the top of their rotation has suffered immensely during a season in which it was expected to be one of the best in the league.
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"I feel it's an epidemic that's happened across the big leagues right now—a bunch of pitchers getting blisters, guys who have never had blisters before. So, for MLB to turn their back to it, I think that's kind of crazy. Extremely frustrating," he said following Monday's game."I have no theory, but obviously, I mean, it's not a coincidence that it's happening to so many guys all of a sudden. It's not a coincidence."Hitters have been setting records for home run totals, distances, and velocities throughout the 2017 MLB season, causing several across the game to theorize that baseballs may be juiced, which is achieved by lowering the seams on the ball, resulting in a greater trajectory off the bat. It's not known whether there is any correlation to blister issues occurring as a result of balls being juiced—or whether balls are in fact even juiced—but Stroman is the latest pitcher to voice his concern. Pitchers like Price, Chris Archer, Brad Ziegler, Justin Verlander, as well as Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen and manager Terry Collins, were among those who expressed skepticism to USA Today Sports surrounding the feel of MLB baseballs—from the seams to the hardness to the way the ball is traveling off the bat.
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In response to the growing concern and criticism, the league recently sent a memo to all 30 major league clubs, stating that "there is no evidence that the composition of the ball has changed in any way."Stroman was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic after leading Team USA to a championship in March, and is 8-5 this season with a career-best 3.42 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and the second-highest groundball rate among qualified starters. He's been one of the lone bright spots of an underperforming Jays starting rotation, and the timing for the injury couldn't be any worse for player or team, which entered the Fourth of July on a five-game losing skid.Blisters are nothing new to baseball, but the prevalence and severity of them among big-name pitchers this season is clearly raising some concern for players and personnel around the majors. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, the top of their rotation has suffered immensely during a season in which it was expected to be one of the best in the league.