TAMPA — Tommy Kahnle has been known to fashion tight baseball pants, but the new MLB uniforms might even be too tight for his liking.
The new uniforms — still designed by Nike but now manufactured by Fanatics instead of Majestic — have been sources of consternation across camps early in spring training.
Kahnle said he actually likes the jersey itself, but the new pants are not up to snuff.
“Even I thought the last few years they haven’t been as stretchy,” the Yankees reliever said. “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.”
Clarke Schmidt agreed that there was a difference in the new uniforms but was also curious to see if they might break in with more use.
“Maybe just a little tighter in certain areas,” Schmidt said. “The material’s a little different. The Majestic [pants] were a little more giving. But we’ll see.”
Though the feeling of the uniform is the main concern, there has also been criticism of the new look — particularly on the back with smaller name plates.
That’s one area that won’t affect the Yankees’ jerseys, since they do not include names on either home or road jerseys.
“The pictures made it look weird [on other teams’ jerseys],” Schmidt said. “We don’t have names, so that is a positive for us.”
Added Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor: “I’m not a fan of the font in the back, it looks kind of small. The jersey itself, the material of it, I like it. It’s light. We’ll see how it plays once I start playing games. But it almost feels like a basketball jersey. I think that is what Nike is trying to do, but everything else is fine except the font is a little smaller.”
Meanwhile, Mets reliever Adam Ottavino was more concerned with the consumer aspect of the new jerseys.
“They feel fine and I know they don’t look very official, but they feel fine. … They do seem like a replica to the other ones that had more stitching,” Ottavino said. “I get what they are doing. I don’t think it’s a player problem as much as the fans are ordering a $300 jersey and they are expecting a certain look to it. I don’t think that’s quite falling into that bucket.”
