Royals Writer Explains Why Star Reliever's Glove Was Inspected
The Kansas City Royals picked up an important win on Monday night, defeating the struggling Minnesota Twins by a final score of 4-2. The win allowed Kansas City to climb back to the .500 mark, improving their record to 5-5 on the year.
Kyle Isbel led the way with three hits and Michael Lorenzen allowed just one run over six innings of work. However, an interesting moment took place in the top of the eighth when Lucas Erceg entered.
The right-hander's glove was inspected by umpires, though they allowed him to pitch with it following their deep dive.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com explained why the umpires chose to inspect the glove of Erceg.
"Issue here was that Erceg's glove had grey lining, which is apparently against the rules (no white/grey)," Rogers posted on X. "But Erceg pitched with that glove all of last year, the postseason and this year, so there was some confusion."
This is certainly an interesting reason to inspect a pitcher's glove, especially when Erceg has used this glove for over a year now.
Sadly, umpires are becoming more self-centered and are wanting to draw attention to themselves during games. If Erceg's glove was illegal in any way, the umpires picked an interesting time to inspect it, especially now that it has been used very frequently by the reliever.
Fortunately, Erceg settled back in and pitched a scoreless top of the eighth inning to keep Minnesota at bay, though he might need to have a different glove for his next appearance.
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Curt Bishop is a freelance sports writer who graduated from Maryville University of St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the field of Communication and currently writes as a contributor for various platforms covering Major League Baseball. Curt’s work includes covering trade and free agency predictions, as well as rumors and news.