Jacob deGrom Defended Against Allegation of Foreign Substance by Mets Teammates

New York Mets players came to the defense of starter Jacob deGrom after a Twitter user accused the two-time Cy Young winner of doctoring a baseball.

The video showed deGrom adjusting his belt and then seemingly wiping something on his glove. 

Pitchers' use of foreign substances has been the biggest controversy of the 2021 baseball season. Major League Baseball is set to begin enforcing rules that ban pitchers using foreign substances, allowing umpires to inspect pitchers several times per game.

MLB had been largely ignoring the use of these substances, which make the balls easier to grip and increase spin rate, which improves velocity and movement on pitches. Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole were among the players who saw their spin rates drop in their first start since the enforcement was announced.

Bauer has been the biggest star who has been most often accused of using foreign substances. Inconsistent for much of the early part of his career, Bauer ascended to stardom in 2018, the same year he saw a massive increase in his spin rate. He is coming off a Cy Young-winning season that helped him net a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers.

DeGrom hasn't seen much in the way of accusations before this weekend and is in the midst of one of the greatest pitching seasons in MLB history. He is currently 5-2 with a 0.62 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 58 innings. His ERA would be the lowest in MLB history and by far the best in modern baseball history.