MLB’s New Pants Had a Visibility Problem

The problem with Major League Baseball’s new uniforms was visible before the 2024 regular season began. An official team photograph of San Francisco Giants infielder Casey Schmitt circulated on social media in February, drawing attention to pants that appeared see-through. A photograph of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani drew similar scrutiny. What was meant to be performance clothing had become a public question about how much a uniform should reveal.

Larry Brown Sports reported on February 23 that Schmitt’s photograph had spread the previous day. TODAY identified the Ohtani image, shared by the Dodgers, as another example of the apparent translucency. The complaint was not confined to still photographs: A February 20 video posted by the Seattle Mariners showed catcher Cal Raleigh in the new pants. One person responding to that video wrote, “I’d only seen how bad the jerseys were but my God, the pants are see through!”

Nike designed the new uniforms, and Fanatics manufactured them. The stated goal was to improve performance and keep players cool during the summer. Nike said the jerseys offered more stretch and dried faster, and pointed to body scans of more than 300 players used to develop the fit. Those claims concerned the jerseys; they did not answer the complaint that the pants appeared translucent.

Players were also objecting to the uniforms’ feel and appearance. “We all liked what we had,” Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner told The Associated Press on February 16. “We understand business, but I think everyone wanted to keep it the same way, for the most part, with some tweaks here or there.” Angels outfielder Taylor Ward told The Athletic that his jersey felt “kind of like papery,” while allowing that it might prove breathable when he had a chance to wear it while sweating.

In February, Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the change as a move toward performance wear. “I think after people wear them a little bit, they’re going to be really popular,” he told reporters. Players association executive director Tony Clark offered a more qualified response to The Athletic: “In this instance, there appear to be some misses that could have otherwise not been misses.”

By April 28, a reported plan for revisions included the pants. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that a players association memo said MLB would fix the pants, restore larger lettering on jersey backs and address the jerseys’ tendency to collect too much sweat. The changes were reportedly planned for no later than the start of the 2025 season.

The memo also distinguished responsibility for the design from responsibility for manufacturing. According to Passan’s account, the union absolved Fanatics and called the problem “entirely a Nike issue.” Its objection, the memo said, predated the photographs: “We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants.”