Baseball is never far away from a season-defining scandal. In the opening week of July, it may have found two.
On Thursday, Cleveland Guardians starter Luis Ortiz was put on paid leave for his potential role in a gambling probe, suggesting that he intentionally threw balls on the first pitch of two plate appearances. The day before, two Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, took to the airwaves to accuse the Cincinnati Reds of cheating.
Mound-tain or molehill?
The pitchers joined Barstool's "Pardon My Take" and complained about Great American Ballpark's pitching mound.
"Cincinnati is tough," Kelly said. "Cincinnati is pretty brutal. The ball flies and the mound, I know they're 'supposed to' have regulations on how high the mound is, but whatever they're doing, they're cheating for sure. It's way lower."
"That mound is so flat," Gallen added.
Pitchers are known to be particular about their groundskeeping. Between the landing area, rubber, and muddied cleats, every detail could impact performance or health.
"Like our mound at home feels like a mountain compared to Cincinnati," Kelly said. "You could see it."
Gallen had an early-June start to fuel his frustration. In a 4-2 loss to Cincinnati, Gallen allowed four earned runs across 6.2 innings, striking out five while walking three and surrendering six hits. Gallen's start against the Reds saw his highest average release point of the season (6.11 feet), although that doesn't seem to be statistically significant. He also tied his lowest extension mark of the year (6.4 feet).
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That could be a sign of the mound being lower and less steep than its counterparts, forcing Gallen to not drive down the mound as much as usual. Whether that's within the bounds of the rulebook hasn't been investigated just yet.
Gallen thinks Cincinnati may be making roster decisions because of its home-field quirk.
"If you think about it, they could then acquire the pitchers that pitch best on that type of mound, like sinker-ballers or whatever it is that works on that mound," Gallen said. "They can be like, alright, we'll stick with these guys because it benefits them."
The Reds swept the Diamondbacks in that June series. They have a 3.82 ERA at home, the 17th-best mark in baseball. Their 4.04 mark is worse on the road, but better compared to their peers.
It may take more than two pitchers to get MLB to investigate Cincinnati and its suspicious (but not necessarily illegal) mound.
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