The Mets have started their 10-game West Coast road trip 5-1 after their win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. But instead of talking about the team clicking seemingly on all cylinders, the story of the game was the ejection of Max Scherzer.
Scherzer was warned about a potential substance on his hands/glove in one inning. He would eventually be ejected after being given another warning in a later inning.
After the game, Scherzer explained the series of events. He said that after the second inning the umpires felt his hand was too “clumpy” which Scherzer said was a mix of rosin, a legal substance, and sweat.
Phil Cuzzi, the crew chief for this series and the one who ejected two other pitchers for foreign substance checks since the rules were implemented, told Scherzer to wash it off and the pitcher did so with alcohol in front of a Major League Baseball official. He then changed his glove because Cuzzi thought there was too much rosin on it.
“I knew I was going to get checked in the fourth,” Scherzer said. “I would have to be an absolute idiot to try and do anything when I come back out.”
After the third inning, in front of the MLB official, he washed his hands again. He reapplied rosin and used sweat and Cuzzi told him that his hands were too sticky.
“I swear on my kids’ life, I’m not using anything else,” Scherzer said he told the officials. “This is sweat and rosin. Sweat and rosin. I kept saying that over and over. They touched my hand and they kept saying my hand is too sticky and they threw me out because of that.”
Umpire Dan Bellino told the official pool reporter that Scherzer's hand "was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand." He also said whatever was on there remained on their fingers for a few innings.
Under MLB rules, any pitcher ejected for what’s deemed to be a foreign substance faces an automatic 10-game suspension, though Scherzer has the ability to appeal.
When Scherzer was asked if he’s confident that he can win an appeal knowing he did everything in front of an MLB official, the former Cy Young winner didn’t want to comment too much on a situation that hasn’t yet happened.
“Now it’s becoming a legal matter,” he said. “I don’t want to comment on what happens next. If I get suspended or not, we’ll see what happens.”
Scherzer said he’ll talk more about the rules and whether he feels the umpires’ discretion on foreign substance checks are too objective, but he wanted to make clear that “today is about being ejected for sweat and rosin.”
Scherzer, who had his last start pushed back from Sunday to Wednesday, pitched three innings, giving up one hit, two walks and striking out three batters on 47 pitches. With the game tied at zero, and the series up for grabs, the Mets bullpen, especially Jimmy Yacabonis who relieved Scherzer, went above and beyond to keep the team in the game and eventually win.
“Credit to Yacabonis. [Relievers] hate when they have to warm up on the game mound,” Scherzer explained. “For him to step up in that situation and perform, kudos to him. He’s going to get a steak dinner for that.”
Scherzer's next scheduled start will likely be Tuesday against the Washington Nationals.