A Major League Baseball pitcher had yet to be ejected for using sticky stuff through the first two days of the sport's crackdown, but a former Chattanooga Lookout was.
Reiver Sanmartin, who pitched for the Lookouts in 2019 and again this season, was booted from Tuesday night's Triple-A game between the host Louisville Bats and the Indianapolis Indians. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jeff Hoffman was making a rehab start for the Bats and threw the first two innings before being replaced by Sanmartin, who worked the third and fourth innings before getting tossed.
Louisville manager Pat Kelly, who guided the Lookouts in 2019, confirmed the ejection to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Sanmartin, a 6-foot-2, 160-pounder from Colombia, was superb for the Double-A Lookouts before being promoted. The 25-year-old lefty posted a 2-0 record and an 0.50 ERA in four games, three of which were starts, and racked up 23 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Tuesday night marked Sanmartin's fifth appearance with Louisville.
MLB on Monday began enforcing penalties for pitchers - or any players for that matter - who are caught using illegal substances that can enhance a pitcher's grip and affect the spin rate of the ball. Each ejection for sticky stuff is accompanied by a 10-game suspension with pay.
The Bats, just like the Lookouts, do not play Monday games during this year's pandemic-adjusted schedule, so Tuesday was the first opportunity on multiple minor league levels in which the new policy could be enforced.
Another former Lookouts pitcher, Hunter Greene, made his home debut for the Bats on Wednesday night, allowing two hits and three walks with six strikeouts in five scoreless innings of a 5-0 win. Greene went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA with the Lookouts, but his first start with Louisville lasted four innings as he gave up four home runs.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.