Using a little sunscreen to get a grip? Widely accepted.

Using SO MUCH of some tacky substance that it sticks your finger to your hat? That’s how you artificially create super elite spin. The kind that Cole suddenly developed after arriving with the Astros. https://twitter.com/lancebroz/status/1292191368404766727

Normal stuff:

See that last RT on Bauer's quote (who, himself, has jump his spin rate massively this year). Bauer was talking about Houston. Pitchers went there, & their spin rates leapt by miles. Bauer said it could only be done by applying substance (and more exist out there than pine tar).

I hate that we allowed this amorphous line to develop between "just a little grip" and "totally and obviously cheating." Because this Cole thing (and Bauer this year) is strikingly obvious what's going on.

... But we can't say anything because, hey, guys need grip?

We should be talking about this, because like Bauer was railing about two years ago (before he jumped on board, apparently), using grip enhancers to massively increase spin *IS CHEATING.* It's clearly banned by the rules, and it clearly has a significant impact on performance.

I don't need this to become some huge scandal. But with the data available to us and the obvious video evidence (it ain't just Cole here in this clip!), why in the world would we not go, hey, man, can you stop with the cheating?

Just to include this tweet in the thread: https://twitter.com/BleacherNation/status/1290661718851555328