Seattle Mariners left-hander Héctor Santiago's 10-game suspension, stemming from him having a foreign substance on his glove, was upheld on Thursday following an appeal, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Passan.
Santiago, 33, became the first (and so far the only) pitcher to be ejected from a game since Major League Baseball began enforcing its rules on adhesive substances. Santiago was ejected from the Mariners' June 27 game against the Chicago White Sox following an inspection by the umpires.
"He was ejected for when his glove was inspected, for having a foreign substance that was sticky on the inside palm of his glove," crew chief Tom Hallion explained after the game. Hallion claimed that the substance was "very noticeable" and that the entire umpiring crew agreed with the call.
Santiago, for his part, had offered the explanation that the substance on his glove was little more than a combination of "sweat and rosin." It should be noted that The Athletic's Jayson Stark reported after the ejection that MLB had not sent Santiago's glove off for more testing on the substance. It remains unclear what, exactly, Santiago had (or didn't have) on his glove that day.
Santiago had appeared in three games since his ejection while awaiting the appeal. He's made 12 appearances on the season, in which he's accumulated a 3.33 ERA (125 ERA+) and a 2.90 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 24 ⅓ innings.
MLB's recent crackdown on foreign substances comes after the league was on pace to post the worst batting average and strikeout rate in its history. According to research done by CBS Sports' John Bollman, run scoring is up from 4.40 to 4.68 since the June 16 implementation date. Of course, it's likely that the warmer temperatures associated with the summer months could also be playing a role in the increase.
