BREAKING NEWS: MLB suspends Huston Astros key man due to shocking reasons
Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco received a 10-game suspension on Wednesday for violating MLB rules regarding foreign substances.
Blanco was ejected from Tuesday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics. The suspension and an undisclosed fine were announced by MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, Michael Hill.
Houston’s general manager, Dana Brown, stated that Blanco would not appeal the suspension, which was set to start on Wednesday night against Oakland.
“At first, he considered appealing, but he and his agent decided it was best to move forward and return to playing as soon as possible,” Brown said.
Blanco had an impressive start to the season, including a no-hitter in his debut, maintaining a 4-0 record with a 2.09 ERA. Brown expects Blanco to miss only one start due to the team’s six-man rotation.
“Ronel Blanco is a dedicated player,” Brown added. “He’s worked hard to secure his spot in the rotation and is eager to return to pitching.”
Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning during a 2-1 win against Oakland after umpires found a foreign substance on his glove. First base umpire Erich Bacchus described it as “the stickiest stuff” he had ever encountered on a glove.
Third base umpire and crew chief Laz Diaz ejected Blanco after checking his glove before the fourth inning. Umpires, Blanco, and Houston manager Joe Espada discussed the issue on the mound before the ejection.
Bacchus noted that Blanco’s glove was clean when checked in the first inning, but he found the substance during a second check before the fourth inning.
“I felt something inside the glove,” Bacchus said. “It was the stickiest substance I’ve felt since we started these checks a few years ago.”
After Bacchus discovered the substance, the umpiring crew confirmed the finding, leading to Blanco’s ejection. “Everyone checked the glove to ensure we all saw the same thing, and he had to be ejected due to the foreign substance,” Diaz said.
Brown mentioned that the ejection was based on the umpire’s judgment of a sticky substance on Blanco’s glove, though its exact nature was unspecified. He noted Blanco’s excessive sweating.
“I believe they thought it was more than just rosin, but we think it was a mix of sweat and rosin,” Brown said. “The umpire thought it was a sticky substance, so we had to accept his decision. Blanco sweats a lot, and combined with rosin, it might seem sticky.”
After the game, Blanco denied using any illegal substances. “It was probably just rosin on my left arm,” he said. “Maybe because of sweat, it got into the glove.”
Espada mentioned seeing “white powder” in Blanco’s glove. “It looked like rosin to me,” Espada said. “Using rosin on the non-pitching hand is not allowed, and it seemed sticky due to moisture and sweat, but that’s what it appeared to be.”
Blanco had a strong performance on Tuesday, allowing four hits and striking out one in three scoreless innings.