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Martín Maldonado reportedly used an illegal bat.
Early in Saturday night's Game 2 of the World Series, FOX mentioned on air that Martin Maldonado has changed bats from Game 1 to Game 2. He was informed by Major League Baseball that the bat he used in Game 1 was not a legal bat.
"Martin Maldonado is using a different bat today here in Game 2. He found out from MLB today that the bat he used last night was not a legal bat. It was a model he obtained from Albert Pujols, and he used it because he thought it was very similar in size and weight to his own model. The barrel, he said, was slightly bigger. He also thought it was a way to honor the baseball legend, of course retiring with the close of the season, but here's the catch to it, guys: in 2010, Major League Baseball changed the bat specifications and that bat that Pujols modeled was no longer, except if you were playing prior to 2010 it was grandfathered. So Albert Pujols could use that bat but Maldonado, who began his major league career in 2011, was not legally able to use that bat."
The concern in question surrounded the size of Maldonado's bat barrel, which was over the maximum limit allowed after MLB enacted a rule change during the 2010-11 offseason.
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