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.”
While 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.”
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