Report: MLB to check pitchers for foreign substances 8-10 times per game

Major League Baseball is finalizing a plan for umpires to randomly check pitchers for foreign substances, sources told Buster Olney of ESPN.

The league reportedly could send a memo as early as next week, with strict implementation of the rules possibly starting June 14.

There will be 8-to-10 random checks per game when pitchers are leaving the mound or at the end of an outing, according to Olney, who adds that starting hurlers will likely be checked at least twice.

The punishment for a pitcher who uses a foreign substance could be 10 days without pay, Olney notes. Position players will also be checked, but they'll be warned after first offenses and asked to clean up the substances.

Through observations and video, the league has reportedly created a scouting report documenting where and how pitchers use foreign substances, including evidence other major leaguers submitted.

"They know all the spots - the pitchers who are pulling on the strings on their glove, or going to a spot on their belt," a source told Olney.

The use of foreign substances in baseball has been a hot topic recently. After St. Louis Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos' hat was confiscated in late May, Minnesota Twins slugger Josh Donaldson said he's created a catalogue of pitchers cheating.

Donaldson doubled down on his comments Friday.

"It is cheating and it is performance-enhancing," Donaldson said, according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. "The only way they get it through and to get it out of the game is if they get checked every half-inning. If a new pitcher comes out, they get checked immediately by the umpire. Once they start doing that, it'll be gone."