ST. LOUIS — As Major League Baseball takes increased steps to crack down on pitchers' use of foreign substances, Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright is making no excuses for what he's used in the past.
After Wainwright's start on Monday night against the Miami Marlins, he was asked about his inclusion in a Sports Illustrated story alleging he had purchased a foreign substance from former Angels clubhouse attendant Brian "Bubba" Harkins.
"I got nothing to hide," Wainwright said post-game. "What Bubba said is true, I tried it in 2019. Honestly, it didn’t work for me... You can check the order, I only had one order with that guy and I gave it away very soon afterwards."
Wainwright said he only used a foreign substance for six or seven games before ditching it, saying it changed the way he pitched. Wainwright described the concoction from Harkins as a sort of mixture of pine tar and rosin, and that there were much stickier things being used around the league.
"It’s something that you have to apply and go to every pitch. You’ll never see me go to my arms or my glove to touch that," Wainwright said. "I don’t like doing any of that stuff. I tried it. I didn’t like it. I got rid of it. Haven’t pitched with it in years."
The Sports Illustrated article also included other top pitchers like Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander as those who had sought out the sticky stuff.
On Tuesday, MLB released increased guidelines and stipulations regarding the use of foreign substances. The strict guidelines go into place beginning June 21 and will call for pitchers to be suspended for 10 games for doctoring a baseball with a foreign substance. There will be progressive discipline for repeat offenders.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt played a part in bringing the conversation around sticky substances into the spotlight this season after his reliever Giovanny Gallegos was forced to remove his hat during a game. Umpires confiscated the hat and ejected Shildt from the game after he argued out on the field. After the game, Shildt said that umpires deciding to crack down on Gallegos would expose baseball's "dirty little secret".
As for Wainwright, he's one of, if not the only, current big leaguer to admit to using something extra on the ball. And he's not about to try it again.
"You can check my glove. You can check my hat. You can watch me like a hawk all game long you’ll never see me with any of that stuff on me ever," Wainwright said.
"I've got nothing to hide. I feel good about that. The truth shall set me free, we’ll see. I don’t know maybe it will or maybe it won’t. I have nothing more to add because there is nothing more to add."
"Don’t you appreciate a man of integrity? I mean really," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said after Monday's game. "I give him so much credit. He tried it, didn’t do anything for him and could easily have tried to alibi his way out of it in front of you and owned up to it. I have a lot of respect for somebody who stands up and says yeah, I gave it a whirl for a little bit to see what it’s all about and didn’t like it and stood up and said it. I got a lot of respect. Nobody’s perfect."