SAN FRANCISCO — After getting ejected for his hand being too sticky Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, Max Scherzer is well aware of what people are calling him right now: A cheater. Largely considered a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Scherzer understands that a cheating allegation could put that future candidacy in doubt and it undermines his integrity as an honest competitor.
Scherzer was suspended for 10 games, the league announced Thursday, for “violating the prohibitions on foreign substances.” He confirmed that he is appealing the decision.
MLB’s intent to crackdown on sticky stuff is right, but many players — including Scherzer — say the execution is flawed. This is the first time a pitcher of this magnitude has been ejected for a foreign substance. The other two, Hector Santiago and Caleb Smith, were tossed in 2021, shortly after the league started instructing umpires to do random checks. All were ejected by umpire Phil Cuzzi.
“Every aspect of this testimony is subjective and every aspect of this is illogical,” Scherzer’s agent Scott Boras said on Foul Territory TV on Thursday. “When you warn a player and he goes and cleanses his hands, that the suggestion that it’s stickier, well what’s it stickier with? It’s sticky with an approved substance.”
What’s important to keep in mind is that this was a judgment call made by an umpire. Maybe umps are being put in a bad spot here, but it’s tough to prove that Scherzer was using anything other than rosin. Cuzzi and home plate umpire Dan Bellino did not speculate as to what kind of substance they ejected Scherzer for.
“I said this to (manager) Buck (Showalter) and to Max, it really didn’t matter to us what it is,” Cuzzi said through a pool report. “All we know is that it was far stickier than anything that we felt certainly today and anything this year. And so in that case, we felt as though he had two chances to clean it up and he didn’t.”
Scherzer insists it was simply rosin and sweat.
“When you use sweat and rosin, your hands get sticky,” Scherzer said Wednesday after the Mets’ 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. “But I don’t get how I get ejected when I’m in front of MLB officials doing exactly what you want, and being deemed my hands too sticky when I’m using a legal substance. I do not understand that.”
However, there are rules around using rosin that have to be followed. These rules were detailed in a memo that was sent to all 30 clubs during spring training. MLB decided to step up their enforcement efforts this season.
By all accounts, Scherzer took the correct measures by washing his hand in front of an MLB official. However, he did say he reapplied rosin before going back out to the mound. The problem here is that the only approved rosin is the rosin inspected by the umpires on the mound. It’s brought to the mound by a compliance officer.
So, what happens now?
“We’re getting our arms around that,” Showalter said.
Losing Scherzer for 10 games — one or two turns through the rotation — could be a disaster for the Mets. Their pitching depth has been significantly thinned and they already have to find someone to take Carlos Carrasco’s start on Friday. The Mets’ rotation for two series against the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves could look a lot different. Jose Butto, David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Kodai Senga and Joey Lucchesi isn’t exactly the super rotation the Mets imagined.
Scherzer hadn’t exactly been his dominant self in his first three appearances of the season, going 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA. His fourth one was pushed back by three days because of a sore back. He’ll be 39 this summer, so the questions about his age will persist, but appeared to be on track against the Dodgers on Wednesday.
He pitched three scoreless innings before being ejected, deftly getting out of the first inning by leaving the bases loaded.
“Some ABs where I had a couple bad walks, bases are loaded, but I was able to generate a good strikeout when I needed it and it was able to escape that ending,” Scherzer said. “Sometimes the first inning can be a tricky thing, and I was able to navigate without a run. So that was great. Keep that zero on the board and allow your team and your offense to go out there and put up some runs.”
Scherzer and the Mets were hoping to see him continue that performance for three or four more innings. He didn’t get that chance and now we’ll see when his next one comes.
