Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil said he has not been contacted by Major League Baseball about how and why his puzzling wild pitch stuck to catcher Yadier Molina's chest protector in the seventh inning of Thursday night's 6-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs. But the southpaw stressed Friday afternoon that he's got nothing to hide from the league, opposing hitters or the crowd of reporters that huddled around his locker.
"I don't use any foreign substance to put on there," Cecil said. "You guys saw Yadi spinning around, and the ball didn't even come off. I think if I was throwing with something that was that sticky, I would be throwing 45-foot dirtballs the whole game. And that's not the case. Your guys' guess is as good as mine. I have no idea. I talked to Yadi, and he has no idea. Yeah, can't explain it."
Cecil said he is not surprised by the uproar about the bounced ball that somehow became attached to Molina's chest protector, an incident that went viral immediately and drew many jokes from the Cubs clubhouse after the game. Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who did not ask umpires to inspect the ball or Cecil, suggested Velcro was to blame. Former Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward, now with the Cubs, wondered if it was Tuf-Skin, an adhesive spray.
"I'll give you guys all my gloves," Cecil said. "You can check them. There's absolutely nothing in them, nothing on them. I've seen guys put a lot of stuff other places. I don't have anything showing. You guys can look at games from the past. There's no certain area I touch more frequently than others. It's not difficult for me, because I know I don't put anything on the ball. I know Yadi doesn't put anything on his chest protector. It's just one of those things. I don't know."
As for the play itself _ Cubs pinch-hitter Matt Szczur reached first base on the wild pitch strikeout to start the seventh _ Cecil said he tried to help Molina find the ball, but could only watch the catcher spin as he stood on the mound.
"I was yelling at him," Cecil said. "I was saying, 'Chest! Chest! Chest!' But I'm sure he's like, 'What the hell do you mean, chest?' It was crazy."
Cecil walked the next batter, Jon Jay, then surrendered a towering home run Cubs leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, which gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead. He then walked Kris Bryant and surrendered a single to Anthony Rizzo. He was removed for Miguel Socolovich before securing one out.
"You just wonder had that not happened, and if we get the out, does the inning go he same way," Cecil said.
Cecil also shed light on why he departed the clubhouse before speaking to reporters on Thursday night. He left questions about his peculiar pitch, and his performance unanswered until today.
"Just to clear the air, you guys don't know me very well, I'm willing to talk to you guys whenever you guys want," Cecil told reporters. "I was in here waiting, and you guys were in with (Cardinals manager) Mike (Matheny) I guess. Had it been a night game and my kids were home sleeping, I might have waited a little bit longer. Day game, I want to get home to my kids. Especially after a game like that, this is the last place I want to be. I want to get home, clear my head for today. Just know I wasn't trying to get out of here, trying to avoid you guys."
Asked if the league has contacted him, Cecil shook his head.
"They're not going to find much," he said.
Matheny's tune on the topic has not changed since Thursday night.
Asked if he was confident that nobody on his team was employing foreign substances on the ball, Matheny repeated, "I still l haven't talked to anybody about that whole thing yesterday. I don't know if you could throw something on a ball and make that happen _ if you put liquid nails on a ball _ I don't know if you could make that happen again."
