Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso met with the media via Zoom today and shared his opinion on MLB cracking down on pitchers using “sticky substances.”

Contrary to what other MLB hitters, most notably Josh Donaldson, have said, Alonso has no issue with pitchers using substances in order to get a better grip on the ball.

“Since the start of the game, pitchers have been using ‘substances,'” Alonso said.

“I mean, there’s a bag of rosin behind the mound right now to help guys dry their hands and get grip. For me, I think whether they’re using pine tar, rosin, BullFrog, or sunscreen and rosin, or whatever they want to use to help control the ball, let them use it.”

He continued, saying that he sees guys today “throwing harder and harder,” and he wouldn’t want the ball to slip out of their hand because they didn’t have enough of a feel for it.

While Alonso, 26, doesn’t see a problem with pitchers using substances, he did make sure to reveal his major concern. Alonso claims that MLB manipulates the baseball each year based on the upcoming free agency class.

“I think that the biggest concern is that Major League Baseball manipulates the baseballs year in and year out based depending on the free agency class,” Alonso said. “Or guys being in an advanced part of their arbitration…. Maybe if the league didn’t change the baseball, pitchers wouldn’t need to use as much sticky stuff.”

Alonso said it’s “not fair” to the people throwing the ball and using it every day, and that he’d rather pitchers be able to use substances to have control of the baseball. He mentioned that in the on-deck circles, hitters have things such as pine tar rags, pine tar sticks, and rosin. Alonso explained that he wouldn’t care if pitchers had something similar behind the mound that would help control the ball.

When asked if other players share the same belief about the baseballs being manipulated, Alonso called his accusations a fact and explained his rationale.

“I mean in 2019 there was a huge class of free agent pitchers,” Alonso said. “That’s the ‘juiced balls.’ 2020, it was a strange year with the COVID season, but now that we’re back to playing in a regular season with a ton of shortstops — there are position players that are going to be paid a lot of money, like high-caliber players — I mean, yeah, it’s not a coincidence… It definitely is something that they do.”

Alonso’s comments shouldn’t be overlooked, and they should be looked at for what they are. One of MLB’s brightest young stars is accusing the league of manipulating the baseball on a yearly basis to lower the potential wages of upcoming free agents. It’s a massive accusation to make, and one that certainly shouldn’t be swept under the rug.

It’s unclear whether players around the league believe this to be true, but it’ll be interesting to see MLB’s response to these accusations, especially with the CBA between the league and the player’s union set to expire later this year on December 1st.