MLB seeking player input on baseball prototypes that could be long-term sticky stuff fix

Major League Baseball has begun disseminating prototypes of pre-tacked baseballs to solicit player feedback, Yahoo Sports has learned. This represents an early step in potentially developing a new baseball to address concerns from pitchers about grip and consistency.

Rich Hill confirmed that the New York Mets reviewed the prototypes about a week-and-a-half ago. Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers were also shown the balls while playing in New York, and the San Francisco Giants are expected to receive them during their series against the Mets this week as well.

“I think they’re getting there,” Hill said. “They’re working on it, and I know they’re going to come, hopefully, to a good resolution.”

Although the current process is still in the preliminary stages, pre-tacked baseballs — or, balls treated with a substance that gives them a slightly tacky feel for easier grip — have been a source of speculation and investigation for several years now. MLB has been experimenting with sticky baseballs that could be introduced in conjunction with enforcement of its foreign substance ban since at least 2016, when they were game-tested in the Arizona Fall League. The league circulated something similar among major leaguers in spring training 2019. Neither pitchers nor hitters were fans at the time — although that could be reflective of an environment in which pitchers’ use of their own technically illicit sticky substances still went unchecked.