Justin Verlander insinuated that baseballs may be juiced in 2017 in the most 2017 way possible: through emojis on Twitter.
ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted Sunday that so far this season, 75 players have hit 20 or more home runs while in 2014, there were 57 batters to do so in all of 2014. Verlander, the Tigers’ ace and former Cy Young Award winner, told Olney to “just say it,” followed by emojis of a needle and a baseball.
Through Sunday’s games, the 30 major league teams have combined to belt 4,693 home runs. That’s on pace to break the record of 5,693 hit in 2000, during what has become perceived as the steroid era.
There has been plenty of theories this season that the baseballs are different. Not surprisingly, most have come from pitchers. Red Sox lefty David Price told USA Today that “One hundred percent” something is up with the baseballs, while Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen added, “There has got to be some investigation.”
Major League Baseball issued a memo to all 30 teams on July 1 describing the testing procedures for baseballs, concluding that “there is no evidence that the composition of the ball has changed in any way that would lead to a meaningful impact on on-field play.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred doubled down on the memo during All-Star festivities, insisting the baseballs are no different, but he did suggest the composition of bats was worth looking into.
More evidence for doctored baseballs is the high rate of pitchers dealing with blisters this season – potentially linked to lower seams on the baseball, according to a study published by The Ringer. Price, Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard, Jake Arrieta, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez are among the blister victims this season.
And in case you doubted Verlander was implying that players were on steroids with his not-so-cryptic emojis, he sent a follow-up tweet to clarify — as did former tennis star Andy Roddick.
Verlander, who allowed a career-high 30 home runs last season and has been tagged for 21 more so far this year, has been outspoken when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs. Last year he pushed for more testing and harsher penalties, calling on MLB to address it, and offered to be tested every day.