MLB’s new uniforms haven’t exactly been getting rave reviews, and now, the bottom half of the fits are in the spotlight for less-than-sterling reasons.
The new Nike-designed and Fanatics-produced uniforms were billed as having lighter materials for the players on the field, but the pants — especially ones that are white — have a see-through quality to them, and that was evidenced in a picture of Giants infielder Casey Schmitt, which went viral for what one could see in the groin region.
In a picture shared by NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Alex Pavlovic, Schmitt was sitting with a bat for a standard photo day picture, but what baseball fans immediately noticed was the tight and transparent aspects below the waist.
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“What are they gonna do when it’s raining pants gonna be see through,” wrote one fan on X in response to the picture.
“There ain’t no way,” wrote another.
But fans on social media are far from the only ones flustered by the new look, as MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said Thursday that he’s frustrated over the uniforms having to be a big part of the conversation in the first weeks of spring training.
“It’s disappointing that we’ve landed in a place where the uniforms are the topic of discussion,” Clark said Thursday, per ESPN. “Each conversation with the guys is yielding more information with what we’re seeing.”
Clark also specifically called out the pants as one of the issues that the MLBPA has been discussing.
“A lot of the rhetoric is confirmation that the pants are see-through,” Clark said. “It’s been an ongoing conversation where each day has yielded something new that doesn’t seem to make as much sense as you would like it.”
Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle said this week that the tighter fit of the pants is tangible.
“Even I thought the last few years they haven’t been as stretchy,” the Yankees reliever said, per The Post’s Greg Joyce. “But definitely this year you can notice the fabric is just a little tighter than we’re used to.
“I think the consensus is they’re not too great. … I know a lot of the guys don’t really like them.”
And Schmitt’s picture was far from the only one fans noticed, as Guardians pitcher Scott Barlow was pictured in full uniform Thursday, and one could see the bottom part of his jersey through the pants along with what appeared to be Nike shorts.
The same issue was noticed in at least two other instances when Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh did a video interview with the team’s social media team and when Shohei Ohtani posed for new Dodgers photos.
Along with the pants, the tops players have worn have already been called out by one unnamed Orioles player, who told the Baltimore Banner it feels like a “knockoff jersey from T.J. Maxx.”
The Mets’ Francisco Lindor said he’s a fan of the lighter material but didn’t like how the font on the back with the players’ names “looks kind of small,” according to The Post’s Mike Puma.
Adam Ottavino added that the duds look more like a “replica” this year.
MLB has defended the new uniforms, calling them “world-class.”
“In acquiring Majestic and its MLB uniform manufacturing facilities in Easton, PA — which have been making player uniforms for nearly two decades — Fanatics has consistently produced world-class uniforms, including every Nike-branded MLB on-field jersey and all City Connect gear since 2020,” MLB senior vice president of global consumer products Denis Nolan told MLB.com earlier this week.
Meanwhile they also told the Wall Street Journal: “The uniform pants have the same material and thickness as the uniform pants used last season.
“There were changes to the fabric of the jersey, not the pants.”There have been changes to the style and sizing of the pants, however.”
Fanatics has been widely criticised by fans for low-quality gear across every sport they work with.
This article was originally published at the New York Post and was republished with permission.
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