Credit: Unsplash

The Yankees’ pitcher gave a confusing answer when asked about prohibited substances.

In the darker annals of professional baseball, desperate players may occasionally employ underhanded tactics to up their game whenever possible. I don’t mean illicit performance-enhancing drugs; I’m talking sticky pastes. Some pitchers have been known to use sticky substances like Spider Tack to improve their grip on the ball and put a more powerful spin on it. The MLB is currently in the midst of a major crackdown on these tactics, and when pressed on whether he has ever used such a trick, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole gave a worrying non-answer.

“I don’t… I don’t know… I don’t quite know how to answer that, to be honest,” Cole said to reporters before the Yankees began a three-game series at Minnesota.

“There are customs and practices that have been passed down from older players to younger players, from the last generation of players to this generation of players, and I think there are some things that are certainly out of bounds in that regard.

“This is important to a lot of people who love the game, including the players in this room, including fans, including teams, so if MLB wants to legislate some more stuff, that’s a conversation that we can have. Because ultimately we should all be pulling in the same direction on this.”

Gerrit Cole had NO idea what to say when asked if he’s used sticky substances

(h/t @mroberson22) pic.twitter.com/YhAkmXhHOf

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 8, 2021

The MLB recently announced a new security practice, wherein umpires would randomly search starting pitchers for any foreign substances. It’s been estimated that one game could contain anywhere from 8 to 10 substance checks under this new rule, though if a game is running behind, then in the interest of time, these checks may be delayed to the end of the game.