MLB players turning to nicotine pouches amid tobacco bans

But across MLB clubhouses this spring training, cans of chewing tobacco have been as conspicuous as ever. Fewer players than before have stacks of tins lined up in their lockers. The smell of long-cut doesn’t fill batting cages and dugouts like it used to.

Why? Because Zyn is in.

Zyn is a brand of smokeless — and more importantly, tobacco-less — nicotine pouches, which have grown in popularity over the past few years and are now taking over perhaps the most nicotine-reliant place in America: major-league clubhouses. And while the pouches are just as addictive as traditional tobacco, given the nicotine, the absence of tobacco has many players turning to Zyn for what they believe to be a cleaner, healthier and less problematic alternative.

The company sells pouches, available in 10 flavors and two levels of nicotine intensity, that are similar in feel and size to snus (a Swedish tobacco product). The Zyns come in an Ice Breakers mints-style plastic container and provide a similar buzz to tobacco pouches without the accompanying inconvenient and repulsive dip spit. Made up of nicotine salts and various flavorings, the chemicals inside the microfiber pouches slowly dissolve over the course of an hour.

“I used Zyns to get off [dip].” Orioles rookie hurler DL Hall told FOX Sports. “They’re still definitely addictive because they have nicotine, but they don’t have the same harmful chemicals that tobacco has.”