Trevor Bauer Suggests on Twitter That Astros Pitchers Are Doctoring Baseballs

The defending champion Houston Astros lead all of baseball with a sparkling 2.54 ERA, and Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer suggested their pitchers have used things to doctor the baseballs to increase their spin rates:

Matt Snyder of CBS Sports pointed out Bauer "comes pretty close to accusing the Astros pitching staff of cheating. He dances around it some, insinuates it some, but in totality, it's pretty clear that's the spin." 

It is important to note Major League Baseball did not let Bauer use glue for his stitches when he attempted to pitch in the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays after slicing open his pinky finger.

The right-hander took exception to what he sees as selective enforcement of the rules:

Astros players Alex Bregman, Lance McCullers Jr. and Collin McHugh didn't appear pleased with Bauer's insinuations:

In particular, Bauer pointed to pine tar when describing how a substance used to doctor baseballs can increase the spin rate on a pitch, although he didn't directly say Houston was using pine tar in the tweet:

Snyder noted Astros starter Justin Verlander leads the league in fastball spin rate for starting pitchers and is in the top 10 for curveballs. What's more, Charlie Morton is second among starters in spin rate for curveballs.

While certainly not proof the Astros are cheating or doctoring baseballs, there has been notable improvement among their starting pitchers.

Verlander had a solid but unspectacular 3.82 ERA in 28 starts for the Detroit Tigers in 2017 before Houston acquired him via trade and boasts a 1.22 ERA since the swap. Morton had a 4.39 ERA in seven years for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4.15 ERA in one year with the Philadelphia Phillies, 6.15 ERA in one year with the Atlanta Braves and a 3.24 ERA in 2017 and 2018 for the Astros.

Even newly acquired Gerrit Cole has thrived in a small sample size with a 1.72 ERA this year after posting a 4.26 ERA last season for the Pirates.

Bauer tweeted his agreement that Astros pitching coach Brent Strom has something to do with the impressive numbers, saying "I completely agree with this statement. Brent is the man. One of my all time favorites."

If nothing else, this adds another storyline to what could be a potential October matchup between these two teams. The Indians and Astros represented the American League in the last two World Series and lead their respective divisions by multiple games in the early portion of the 2018 campaign.