Was Jordan Lyles Cheating Last Night Against The Tigers?

Before I start here, I need to put this disclaimer out there. I have no idea if Jordan Lyles was cheating or using foreign substances in his outing against Detroit last night. I was not in the clubhouse, nor do I have any inside sources. I am basing my opinion purely on speculation. I'm the only content person at this company that is a Detroit Tiger fan. People on Twitter sent that screenshot of Jordan Lyles a million times last night, so I feel a need to comment on it, but I can't confirm anything. At the same time, it's a little fishy. To get people caught up, Jordan Lyles, who came into last night's game against the Tigers with a 1-11 record and a 6.42 ERA on the season, absolutely shut down the Tigers lineup, tossing six scoreless innings. I know that the Tigers lineup isn't exactly the '27 Yankees (trust me, I've watched), but Lyles throwing six shutout innings against anyone should raise a few eyebrows. We're talking about a thirty-two-year-old pitcher with a -1.8 career bWAR who, in the last three seasons (80 starts), has had a grand total of three outings in which he pitched six innings or more of shutout ball. The Royals are 1-17 in games he's started this year. Thankfully, my Tigers rallied against the awful Royals bullpen and won 3-2. I may not have survived if the worst pitcher in baseball would've shut the Tigers down. I'd still prefer not to sweat out a Jordan Lyles start, but I'll take the win. But shortly after the game, the cheating accusations started to fly based on that screenshot.

Again, I can't say whether or not Lyles was cheating against the Tigers last night, but if any pitcher in MLB would benefit the most from using a sticky substance, it would probably be Jordan Lyles. His career is an achievement. I wrote a blog yesterday about Charlie Morton and how he found a way to turn around his career at age thirty-two. Jordan Lyles is essentially what Charlie Morton would've been had Houston not seen something in him. He's not a good Major League pitcher. He has never been but finds his way onto a roster every year. Sometimes with guys like this, they'll have one great year and then bounce from team to team, hoping they can regain the magic that made them successful. That's not the case with Lyles. He's never had a good season. Outside of a solid eleven-start stretch he had for the Brewers back in 2019, he's been a 4.50+ ERA pitcher his entire career. I always find it sad when the best players in the world cheat. Some of the greatest players of all-time have destroyed their legacies because they got greedy. There are few stories about awful Major League players who try to cut corners. Jordan Lyles may have been the exception last night.

Even if Lyles was rocking a fist full of Spider Tack last night, it doesn't excuse the Tigers offensive performance. At the same time, if there is one that might support the cheating theory, it's that Lyles' baseball savant page is slightly better than you would expect, and it's also inconsistent with the rest of his career. His hard-hit percentage is in the 84th percentile, the best of his career since the Statcast era began in 2015. It makes you think. I have a long leash when it comes to cheating stuff. I don't like to blindly accuse people of trying to get an unfair advantage, but this is different. What's that shit on your wrist, dawg?