For the past month, Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler has battled blister issues on his throwing hand. Those blister issues had Buehler limited to just 11.2 innings over three starts for an entire month.
And for Wednesday’s Wild Card series opener against the Brewers, Buehler took the mound to give the Dodgers four innings of work. But the unsightly blister was a definite topic of discussion during the ESPN broadcast. At one point, ESPN color commentator Eduardo Perez speculated that Buehler had something on his blister, which would be against MLB rules.
The broadcast provided a super zoomed-in look at the blister, and there may have been something there — it’s unclear. Also, gross.
it’s not nothing pic.twitter.com/r4Zezrb9fH
— megan YELI MVP brown (@thatgirlondeck) October 1, 2020
That was when Perez referenced the specific MLB rule that prevented substances on a pitcher’s hands and wrists.
Eduardo Perez just went full 'Get off my lawn' with the exact rule because Buehler has something for his blister pic.twitter.com/FOfXYPx5fC
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) October 1, 2020
This is the full rule:
Rule 6.02(c)(7) Comment: The pitcher may not attach anything to either hand, any finger or either wrist (e.g., Band-Aid, tape, Super Glue, bracelet, etc.). The umpire shall determine if such attachment is indeed a foreign substance for the purpose of Rule 6.02(c)(7), but in no case may the pitcher be allowed to pitch with such attachment to his hand, finger or wrist.
Despite Perez’s speculation about the Dodgers potentially breaking MLB rules, the Brewers did not have the umpiring crew inspect Buehler’s hands. It could have just been a really bad blister, and it’s hard to imagine that Buehler would put something illegal on a blister that was so clearly a visible purple and gray.
That wouldn’t have been subtle.
Buehler allowed two runs in four innings of work. The Dodgers went on to win, 4-2.
