LEADING OFF: MLB crackdown coming, deGrom up, Glasnow down

A look at what’s happening around the majors Wednesday:

GET A GRIP

Now that Major League Baseball has detailed the coming crackdown on illegal substances, pitchers must get prepared to command their stuff without the same sort of tacky aides.

New York Mets' Jacob deGrom (48) follows through on a two-run single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, June 11, 2021, in New York. (AP PhotoFrank Franklin II)

The commissioner’s office announced that pitchers will be ejected and suspended 10 games for using illicit sticky stuff to better their grip on the baseball. Increased enforcement begins Monday.

Responding to record strikeouts and a league batting average at a more than half-century low, MLB said Tuesday that major and minor league umpires will start regular checks of all pitchers, even if opposing managers don’t request inspections.

While suspensions would be with pay, repeat offenders would receive progressive discipline, and teams and club employees would be subject to discipline for failure to comply.

“After an extensive process of repeated warnings without effect, gathering information from current and former players and others across the sport, two months of comprehensive data collection, listening to our fans and thoughtful deliberation, I have determined that new enforcement of foreign substances is needed to level the playing field,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

RIGHT ON SCHEDULE

Jacob deGrom (6-2) is set to take his regular turn for the New York Mets against the Chicago Cubs after leaving Friday’s outing with right flexor tendinitis. A precautionary MRI showed no problem, Mets manager Luis Rojas said.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner has a 0.56 ERA, the lowest ever for a pitcher through 10 starts. He permitted one hit in six innings last week against San Diego, extending his shutout streak to 22 innings. He has 103 strikeouts and eight walks in 64 innings.

The right-hander has fired 128 of his 839 pitches this season 100 mph or harder. No other starter had more than 10 such pitches before last Friday.

A former college infielder, deGrom has also delivered at the plate. He’s batting .400 with more hits (10) and RBIs (five) than earned runs allowed this season (four).

WAIT AND SEE

Tampa Bay ace Tyler Glasnow says he won’t have surgery — for now — to fix a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, and plans to see another doctor on Friday.

An MRI showed the tear and a flexor strain, a day after Glasnow was forced to leave a start after four innings. Glasnow said he’s sure that trying to throw slick baseballs without any grip enhancer helped cause the problem.

“I 100% believe that contributed to me getting hurt,” he asserted Tuesday.

Glasnow is 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 14 starts, tied for the most in the majors. The 27-year-old has struck out 123 in 88 innings.

“Just don’t throw for a while, but they also said no surgery,” Glasnow said. “So I’m just going to try and rehab it and try to come back.”

If Glasnow chose to undergo Tommy John surgery, that would sideline him this season and could prevent him from pitching next year, too. The Rays own the best record in the majors after reaching the 2020 World Series.

MINUS MADRIGAL

The AL Central-leading White Sox will be missing sparkplug Nick Madrigal for the rest of the season after the rookie second baseman had surgery to repair tears in his right hamstring.

The scrappy 24-year-old was hurt last week trying to beat out a grounder. He hit .305 while scoring 30 runs and driving in 21 over 54 games, and is still tied for the AL lead with four triples.

Madrigal is expected to be fully recovered by next spring. Danny Mendick and Leury García will take over Madrigal’s spot.

Chicago has been winning despite significant injuries.

Slugging outfielder Eloy Jiménez hasn’t played this season after rupturing his left pectoral tendon in spring training. He was cleared this week to resume baseball activities and the White Sox hope to have him in the lineup down the stretch.

Center fielder Luis Robert is out with torn right hip flexor and also could be back late in the season.

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A look at what's happening around baseball Saturday:

CABRERA REIGNS

Miguel Cabrera should get to swing for his 3,000th career hit after his pursuit was delayed a day by a rainout.

The Tigers are set for a day-night doubleheader against Colorado at Comerica Park. The teams were washed out Friday.

Cabrera got to 2,999 hits on Wednesday night, then struck out in his final at-bat of the game. The 39-year-old went 0 for 3 with an intentional walk on Thursday.

Antonio Senzatela (0-1, 2.16 ERA) is ready to pitch the first game of the twinbill for Colorado. The Rockies right-hander and Cabrera are both from Venezuela.

“He’s going to go down as one of the best hitters of all time,” Hall of Famer and former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell said Friday.

“He realizes that it’s getting toward the end, but he still has something left in the tank. When it’s all said and done this year, I think he’s going to have a heck of a year,” he said.

JAPANESE PERFECTION

The baseball world will be watching this weekend to see whether Roki Sasaki can do it again.

The 20-year-old Japanese pitcher with the 100 mph fastball and devastating splitter has thrown 17 straight perfect innings. He’ll start Sunday for the Chiba Lotte Marines against the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka.

Sasaki pitched a perfect game against Orix on April 10, the first in Japan in 28 years. He followed up with eight more perfect innings on April 17 before he was pulled by manager Tadahito Iguchi after 102 pitches. Sasaki struck out a combined 33 in those games.

Sasaki grew up in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate. His father was killed in the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent meltdown on three nuclear reactors that devastated that part of the country.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is appealing his second suspension this season after Major League Baseball banned him for one game Friday after he gave fans the middle finger two days earlier.

Anderson had three errors in the first two innings of Chicago’s 11-1 loss Wednesday in the opener of a doubleheader. The frustrated 28-year-old made the gesture toward a fan while out in the field. Anderson will remain with the White Sox until his appeal is heard.

Anderson also missed the firt two games of the season serving a two-game suspension for making contact with umpire Tim Timmons during the ninth inning of a game on Sept. 27. Anderson successfully appealed that suspension down from three games.

GIANT PAIN

San Francisco's injured list is getting crowded after right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Steven Duggar hit the shelf Friday.

DeSclafani went on the 10-day IL with right ankle inflammation a day after allowing five runs in five innings during a loss to the Mets. Manager Gabe Kapler says DeSclafani will get an MRI on Monday.

Duggar was added to the 60-day IL with a left oblique strain. He was pulled from Thursday's loss in the second inning.

The pair joins starter Alex Cobb and hitters Evan Longoria, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Tommy La Stella on the IL.

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