Michael Pineda is pitching a gem for the Yankees as they take on the Red Sox in this year’s first installment of baseball’s most famous rivalry. The Yankee starter is currently tossing a shutout and had a no-hitter through the first four innings, but is he getting some illegal help?
It’s clear that Pineda has a whole lot of a dark substance plastered on the palm of his right pitching hand, but nobody seems to know what it is. It certainly looks like it could be pine tar (a big no-no in the rulebook) but, before jumping to conclusions, Buster Olney brings up a good point:
Re: Pineda's hand. Certainly Sox aware by now; if they don't complain, it tells you (again) this is standard operating procedure for P's.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 11, 2014
To this point, the Red Sox haven’t complained or asked to examine Pineda’s hand, so we may never know what the deal is there. Maybe Pineda dipped his hand into the maple syrup jar during his pre-game snack sesh.
