The Worst Pitcher in MLB Caught Cheating?

Sticky stuff is back baby!

Did one of the worst pitchers in baseball seriously just get caught cheating? Jordan Lyles has been pretty horrific all season for the Kansas City Royals and is widely regarded as one of the worst Starting Pitchers in the MLB. Through June, Lyles had a 6.68 ERA through 16 games to go along with a league-worst 11 losses. He had given up more Earned Runs than Ks recorded at this point through 91.2 IP. However, Lyles had seemed to turn it around over his last two starts. In those games, Lyles pitched 11 innings, giving up only 1 ER and 9 Hits while striking out 9 as well. This seemed like a rare positive for Royals fans (who have had to watch their club win only 27 games so far this year) until this picture was released.

If you are not sure what you are looking at, Jordan Lyles' wrist seems to have a "Spider Tack" type of banned substance. Nothing has been confirmed about Jordan Lyles using sticky stuff; however, at the very least, it is suspicious. When asked about Lyles, Tigers 1B Spencer Torkelson was quoted as saying, "Yeah, there's definitely something there. But that hasn't gone away. Guys are still doing that. He just happened to not get caught. There's nothing we can do about it now." Now, a bad pitcher having back-to-back good outings after starting off poorly is not an impossible feat. However, the use of sticky stuff would explain the 32-year-old's sudden success. It makes you wonder: Who else in the league is still illegally using sticky substances to enhance their pitches?