Why Kumar Rocker’s white sleeves as pitcher led to MLB delay in Rangers-Cubs originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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There have been a lot of different kinds of delays in baseball through the years.
MLB got quite the rare one on Friday night as the Texas Rangers took on the Chicago Cubs — it was a white sleeves delay from Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker.
Yep, that’s what it sounds like.
Rocker was wearing white sleeves, and the game had to be held up.
The umpires needed Rocker to get rid of those sleeves.
Just your casual white sleeves delay here for Cubs-Rangers. pic.twitter.com/dlWLfARKWe
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) May 9, 2026
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Why can’t an MLB pitcher wear white sleeves?
This one is just about as obvious as it should seem.
The baseball is white. White sleeves are right near where the ball is being thrown from.
Thus, the white sleeves can make it tougher to see the baseball as the pitcher releases it.
The reality is that a lot of this could depend on a given pitcher’s release point, but the rule has to be the rule for every pitcher.
It’s a bit fascinating that Rocker came out in the sleeves to begin with, but rules are rules, and so they delayed the game until he got his shirt situation figured out.