Heading into the 2021 regular season, MLB reportedly informed teams they would use Statcast data to monitor pitchers’ spin rates in efforts to curb widespread usage of foreign substances on baseballs.
MLB’s efforts also have entailed collecting the first ball thrown from games across the league so they could be examined in a lab setting. The Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves in a bit of a firestorm when it was reported Trevor Bauer was under investigation.
Bauer took umbrage with the suggestion he was a focal point and correctly noted MLB was collecting baseballs from effectively all pitchers.