It didn’t take long for the Fanatics-made baseball jerseys to generate some more criticism once Opening Day arrived.
This time, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, reliever Jonathan Loáisiga and others were shown sweating through the new MLB uniforms that’d already been ripped in spring training for see-through pants.
shoulder and bicep area. Screengrab via X/@BurdenBurner
For Judge, the sweat marks seeped through the fabric by his shoulder and bicep area.
For Loáisiga, it was near the armpit.
And for catcher Jose Trevino, the perspiration spread around the fabric near the back part of his chest protector.
“I think we need to revisit the Fanatics baseball jersey discourse because these sweat stains look horrible,” one user wrote on X.
“If you were wondering how bad the fanatics jerseys are, the guys are literally sweating right through them,” another user wrote.
The new jerseys — which are designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics, the two pieces of a current uniform deal with MLB that was announced in 2019 and began during the 2020 season — made the MLB Players Association “frustrated” and also drew complaints for lettering that was small and “incorrect coloring,” according to The Athletic.
Angels outfielder Taylor Ward even told the outlet that they “like a replica” instead of an expensive jersey.
“We’ve purely been doing exactly as we’re told — we’ve been told we’ve done everything exactly right — and we’re getting the s–t kicked out of ourselves every day right now,” Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said March 1 at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, according to The Athletic. “That’s not fun. Normally when I get beat up it’s because I actually did something wrong.”
Opening Day. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Rubin cited the need for more player approval when considering a design change, but he added, according to the outlet, that he believes the Nike jerseys will eventually be viewed as an improvement.
“In this particular case, Nike designs everything, hands us a spec and says, ‘Make this,’” Rubin said at the conference earlier this month. “We have made everything exactly to the spec. Nike and baseball would say, yes, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you to do. Part of changing a uniform is people get uncomfortable, and it takes time (to adjust).”
But one month later, and one game into the regular season, Fanatics was still facing backlash.
The Yankees defeated the Astros, 5-4, in a comeback win on Opening Day, and they’ll face Houston again — with those same road jerseys — Friday evening, with Carlos Rodon starting for the Yankees.