NEW YORK — Yankees manager Aaron Boone vowed to go back and study the television footage of Seattle Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi throwing a gem Wednesday night with a foreign substance caked to his cap, and that he did. And … “Yeah, we looked at it and have some thoughts about it, but I don't really have anything public to say about it,” Boone said Thursday before the Yankees and Mariners concluded their four-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees can’t do anything about the outcome – Kikuchi held the Yankees to one run and two hits over 7 2/3 innings in a 10-1 Mariners win – but they probably filed a report with Major League Baseball to send a warning or lobby for a fine. It’s believed that Kikuchi had pine tar on his cap to get a better grip on the baseball. “We'll try to handle it behind the scenes, how we think is proper,” Boone said. Boone claims the Yankees weren’t aware that the inside bill of Kikuchi’s cap was smothered with a substance until the eighth inning. Had the Yanks had known earlier, they could have had plate umpire Angel Hernandez examine Kikuchi’s cap, and that likely would have led to an immediate ejection. The potential problem there is a lot of Yankees pitchers probably are using a little pine tar as well this time of the year when rosin bags behind the mound doesn’t always work due to cold weather. “A lot of guys use stuff,” Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said. The Yankees players who commented on Kikuchi’s outing mostly credited the Japanese rookie rather than accuse him of cheating his way to a great outing. Buy Yankees tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek, PrimeSport, Ticketmaster “I could care less (if he cheated),” Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin said. “Nobody noticed it, nobody said anything. We’ve got a lot bigger worries, trying to manufacture runs, trying to get on base, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.” Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.<doc-sep>Gamesmanship is nothing new in baseball. Between batters trying to hit 98-mph pitches with movement and pitchers trying to retire batters who are hitting home runs at a historic rate, plenty of players will do what they can to gain an edge. Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi threw an absolute gem against the Yankees on Wednesday. The rookie from Japan went 7.2 innings of three-hit ball, and the Mariners won, 10-1. But baseball fans quickly took notice to Kikuchi’s hat. There appeared to be a foreign substance — likely pine tar — on the inside of his hat’s bill. Yet, the umpiring crew of Angel Hernandez, Ed Hickox, Carlos Torres, and Dana DeMuth didn’t take notice. Fans watching, however, did see the substance as Kikuchi went into the sixth inning without allowing a hit. YES cameras show pine tar on Kikuchi's hat. Personally, I don't mind that pitchers use it. But I know many of you do. So, here you go. pic.twitter.com/M18UH64fzD — Tom Hanslin (@TomHanslin) May 9, 2019 Here’s a video of the pine tar under Kikuchi’s hat. pic.twitter.com/oFgT5700gR — Andrew (@Andrew_Rotondi) May 9, 2019 Every pitcher uses pine tar but Yusei Kikuchi could not be more obvious about it pic.twitter.com/b6IBNvmEAv — 12up (@12upSport) May 9, 2019 A fan below the press box is shouting to home plate ump Angel Hernandez as loudly as his hoarse voice will let him that Hernandez should: "Check his [Kikuchi's] hat!" — Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) May 9, 2019 Per MLB rules, a pitcher is not allowed to have a foreign substance “on his person, or in his possession.” While pitchers commonly break this rule with pine tar, Kikuchi wasn’t exactly subtle about it on Wednesday. Still, the rule wasn’t enforced, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the team would determine if they wanted to raise the issue with MLB. He told reporters via ESPN: “I heard they were talking about it, so I was made aware of it sometime, like, in the eighth inning there. So I’ll take a look at it, and we’ll kind of see what we can make of it.” When it comes to Kikuchi, this wouldn’t be an isolated violation. A foreign substance was visible on his cap during an April 26 start against the Rangers. He’ll have to be far more discreet about it going forward.<doc-sep>Ryon Healy supplied plenty of support for Kikuchi with a 4-for-5 night that included a two-run homer and three doubles. His 16 doubles on the season are the most in the American League and exceed his total of 15 for all of 2018. The only other player in Mariners history with three doubles and a home run in the same game was Ken Griffey Jr., in 1998 against the Rockies.<doc-sep>Any die-hard baseball fan or media member regularly on Twitter can't go many days without seeing some manufactured "controversy" about something. A common one is people taking screengrabs and highlighting some way in which their favorite team is being cheated. Take the Mariners beating the Yankees, 10-1, on Wednesday night. Mariners starter Yusei Kikuchi took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and worked 7 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Per nj.com there was a fan screaming for the umpiring crew to check Kikuchi's hat. Tweets were circulating with what appeared to be a foreign substance on the inside of the bill of Kikuchi's hat. Like this: Fair enough on the "be subtle" part, but generally speaking, nearly every pitcher uses some substance like pine tar for gripping purposes. Now, perhaps Yankees fans are sensitive to this because Michael Pineda was ejected a few seasons back, when on the Yankees, against the Red Sox. He had a nice glob of pine tar on the side of his neck. It wasn't exactly subtle, but I can see the argument that Kikuchi's hat wasn't either. It was under the bill, but that seems like a lot. Maybe it was a pine tar, sweat, rosin mix and just looked way worse on camera. All we can do is speculate from here. As for the Yankees, credit them for not worrying too much about this. Keep in mind, again, that they lost by nine runs and they surely have pitchers who use gripping substances. Via nj.com: "A lot of guys use stuff," Luke Voit said. "It's frustrating obviously because maybe then his curveball wouldn't have been as good," Voit added. "He might have made more mistakes with his fastball. But at the end of the day he had a no-hitter into the sixth inning." --- "I was too busy trying to figure out how to stop giving up runs," catcher Austin Romine said. "He had stuff on his hat? That's not my zone. I don't talk about that kind of stuff. There are other people that take care of that." --- "I could care less," Cameron Maybin said. "Nobody noticed it, nobody said anything. We've got a lot bigger worries, trying to manufacture runs, trying to get on base, but I don't think that had anything to do with it." As for the rule itself, here is the pertinent part of Rule 6.02c: The pitcher shall not ... (4) apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball; (5) deface the ball in any manner; or (6) deliver a ball altered in a manner prescribed by Rule 6.02(c)(2) through (5) or what is called the "shine" ball, 2018 Official Baseball Rules_2018 Official Baseball Rules 2/27/18 2:16 PM Page 75 "spit" ball, "mud" ball or "emery" ball. The pitcher is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands. (7) Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. I think we can honestly say that touching pine tar before pitching isn't necessarily applying a foreign substance and it's not going to deface the ball. This is generally where most pitchers skate by and it appears to be the case with Kikuchi. However, this example is definitely in violation of (7) because it seems obvious there was a foreign substance on Kikuchi's hat and that's on his head and in his possession. On this front, though, go back and read those answers from some Yankees players again. So long as it's not excessive lumping of a substance on the ball and not blatantly caked on the outside of clothes (or, say, on his neck), even the hitters realize this isn't all that big a deal at all. Maybe go much lighter on it next time, Mr. Kikuchi. Until then, stand down, Baseball Twitter. This isn't a big deal. Ask the players who lost 10-1.<doc-sep>
In his first year in the MLB, Seattle Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is off to a strong start, averaging just over 5 innings pitched per start in nine appearances with a 2-1 record and a 3.54 ERA. Not CY Young numbers, but for the 27-year-old making the jump from Japan to the show, it's been a good first month. On Wednesday night in the Bronx though, he looked like a Cy Young candidate, pitching five innings of no-hit, shutout ball before the New York Yankees finally scored a run on two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Kikuchi wound up going 7.2 innings, striking out three batters, giving up just one run on three hits and walking only one. It was his longest and best outing of the season. Throughout the night, Kikuchi continued to rub the brim of his cap. We're talking no less than 500 times, which is not uncommon for pitchers or any baseball player to do. They all have their quirks, it's just that Kikuchi would not freaking stop doing it. Here's a compilation from Wednesday night: Full disclosure: Jomboy (a must-follow on Twitter for all baseball fans) is a dedicated Yankees podcaster, Twitterer, fan in general, etc. I am also a Yankees fan, but none of that disproves the fact that Kikuchi is addicted to rubbing the brim of his hat. Others watching took notice, and it appeared as though Kikuchi took the entire tub of pine tar and dumped in on the brim of his cap: There may be no pine tar left on earth. Kikuchi took it all. This is not sour grapes, because literally every pitcher on the planet has used the sticky substance at some point. Former Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda got caught red-handed / neck-handed with it a few years ago. The Red Sox pitching staff has been bathing in the stuff for years. It's the worst-kept secret in the sport, and if you ain't using it, you ain't trying. But anytime it's as blatant as it was last night, people will take notice. Story continues To the Yankees credit, they downplayed it after the game. First baseman Luke Voit told NJ.com that “A lot of guys use stuff. It’s frustrating obviously because maybe then his curveball wouldn’t have been as good. He might have made more mistakes with his fastball. But at the end of the day he had a no-hitter into the sixth inning.” Outfielder Cameron Maybin went as far as saying that it really doesn't matter. “I could care less. Nobody noticed it, nobody said anything. We’ve got a lot bigger worries, trying to manufacture runs, trying to get on base, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.” All good points. Kikuchi might just want to be a little more discreet about it in his next start. Originally Appeared on Golf Digest