Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco has been handed a 10-game suspension by MLB for violating the league’s rules on foreign substances. Blanco was ejected from the game against the Oakland Athletics.
Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, announced the suspension. Unless Blanco appeals the penalty, which also includes an undisclosed fine, it will go into effect on Wednesday night.
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In Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Oakland, Blanco found himself ejected at the beginning of the fourth inning. Umpires discovered a foreign substance on Blanco’s glove, which first base umpire Erich Bacchus described as “the stickiest stuff I’ve ever felt.”
In the fourth inning, before Blanco threw a pitch, third base umpire Laz Diaz ejected him after checking his glove. Blanco, Houston manager Joe Espada, and the umpires gathered at the mound for a few minutes to discuss the matter before the right-hander was ultimately ejected.
During the middle of the first inning, Bacchus claimed that there was nothing on Blanco’s glove when he inspected it. However, when he conducted a second check before the fourth inning, he discovered something on the glove.
Bacchus described the sensation of feeling something inside the glove, noting that it was the stickiest substance they had encountered in their years of experience.
Bacchus stumbled upon the substance and immediately summoned the rest of the crew for a discussion.
According to Diaz, everyone inspected their gloves to ensure uniformity, but the player in question was subsequently ejected due to the presence of a foreign substance on his glove.
Blanco vehemently denied the use of any illegal substance.
“I think it was probably the rosin I applied to my left arm,” he explained in Spanish with the help of a translator. “Perhaps due to the sweat, it made its way into the glove, and that’s probably what they discovered.”
When Espada approached the mound, he noticed that there was “white powder” inside Blanco’s glove.
