Pitchers’ use of sticky stuff — even the performance-enhancing superglue — and the forthcoming crackdown isn’t really a cheating scandal, it’s a belated reckoning that has more to do with aesthetics than ethics. And the entire baseball world would be having a more productive conversation right now if it was focused on easing what is widely recognized as a dramatic transition instead of centering the idea of pitchers getting their just desserts. Fans, too.
Here are some things that are certainly true: The balance between pitching and offense is a sensitive scale that does not modulate itself and instead requires deft oversight, that balance — or lack thereof — is a critical factor in the ever-fluctuating flavor of the on-field product, the commissioner’s office not only can but should put a thumb on the scale, pitching has recently and increasingly established an upper hand, among the many advancements designed to optimize all aspects of the game is a sophisticated understanding of how tackiness improves spin and spin improves pitching, and, as such, curbing the use of foreign substances is one way to potentially curtail pitchers’ dominance.