Houston Astros Pitcher Caught Cheating, Ejected for Violating Foreign Substance Policy
Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Ronel Blanco was ejected from Tuesday’s game for having a foreign substance on his glove. Blanco’s glove was inspected by umpires ahead of the fourth inning, and after a brief meeting, they elected to throw Blanco out of the game.
Here’s the entire three-plus minute interaction between Blanco, Astros manager Joe Espada, Astros infielders, and the four umpires.
Blanco had thrown three scoreless innings on Tuesday, lowering his season ERA to 2.09. He also threw the league’s only no-hitter this season on April 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Major League Baseball will now inspect Blanco’s glove, which was swiftly removed from the field following the ejection. If it’s determined he had a banned substance on it, Blanco will receive a 10-game suspension.
Last year, former Dodgers right-handed pitcher and then-New York Met Max Scherzer was ejected following a glove check and later received a 10-game foreign substance ban. Our Doug McKain posted an in-depth breakdown of the Scherzer ejection, which you can watch here:
Blanco is likely to receive the same punishment, which will keep him out of the Astros’ rotation for the next two turns.
The Astros were famously involved in the sign-stealing scandal during the 2017 season, culminating in a World Series win over the Dodgers.
Photo Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
“Caught cheating” LOL, ok. When MLB figures out how to stop sweat and rosin accumulation from becoming sticky, then we can call this cheating. Until then, call it what it is — an overreaction
Right, in the meantime, it’s just click bait perpetrated here because it’s an Astros’ pitcher and of course, 2017. Max Scherzer was kicked out either last season or the one before for the exact same thing. Many of the writers here are just lazy.