The same day veteran pitchers Max Scherzer and Sergio Romo nearly removed their pants on the field as umpires searched them for spin rate-increasing sticky substances, the Orioles made the most anti-spin roster move they could: promoting knuckleballer Mickey Jannis to the majors.
Jannis didn’t make it into Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros, but the 33-year-old has waited a long time for what will be his major league debut. It’ll be followed by a foreign substance check from umpires; he laughed Wednesday when asked whether they should even bother.
“I don’t believe so, but that’s gonna be part of the game so whatever they got to do,” Jannis said.