FT Leadoff

What even determines if a “foreign substance” is too sticky?

First base umpire Erich Bacchus claimed Ronel Blanco’s glove on Tuesday night was the stickiest he’s ever felt since the league started requiring umpires to inspect pitchers.

For more on this “collectively bargained” rule, check out our discussion on yesterday’s episode of FT Live.

Last Wednesday, the Rockies had the worst record in baseball and hadn’t won a series all season.

Since then, they’ve completed back-to-back sweeps, largely due to the rotation’s 1.96 ERA during their 7-game winning streak.

After being swept by the Rox, the Padres are 7.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West as they head to Atlanta to face the red-hot Braves over the weekend.

The Yankees are playing some damn good baseball as of late.

Following their eleventh series win of the season, they own the best record (29-15) in the American League and have taken over first place in the AL East by half a game over the Orioles.

They’ll go for the series sweep this afternoon in Minnesota.

Watch - The FT crew offers their take on baseball’s biggest surprises and disappointments in the first installment of FT Quarterly!

Watch - FT Senior Insider Ken Rosenthal offers his thoughts on MLB’s starting pitcher crisis and the job security of Cardinals management.

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