Two days after the White Sox season ended, Tyler Gilbert finally got his glove back.
Gilbert’s glove was confiscated by the umpires on September 23rd at Yankee Stadium before he took the mound in relief of Davis Martin in the fifth inning. It was the same glove that Gilbert had been using all season.
However, when second-base umpire Phil Cuzzi examined the glove, he felt something sticky that he believed could potentially be an illegal substance. At the time, Gilbert said the texture was due to a build-up of sweat and rosin near his palm.
Gilbert hadn’t had any previous issues with the glove in his previous 44 appearances, but was forced to use a backup glove. The glove change didn’t seem to bother the 31-year-old southpaw, as he proceeded to fire a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in an eventual White Sox 3-2 loss.
His original glove was sent to the MLB to undergo lab tests. On Tuesday, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reported that the glove was returned to Gilbert without incident after he was informed no illegal substances were found.
Gilbert was forced to make two more appearances without his glove against the Yankees on September 25 and the Nationals on September 27. He finished the year with a 3.88 ERA in 51 innings of work for the White Sox.
