New York Mets right-hander Max Scherzer has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 10 games under grip-enhancing substance rules, the league announced Thursday. Scherzer, who was also fined, is expected to appeal the decision.
Scherzer was thrown off his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday after having multiple interactions with umpires during the usual hand checks between innings.
Scherzer, 38, claimed he only used a combination of sweat and rosin to improve tact. After the third inning, he was informed by umpire Phil Cuzzi that he needed to wash his hands and reapply the rosin. He claimed that he did so, but that his hands became sticky in response to the alcohol wash. (Scherzer said he washed his hands and reapplied his rosin in front of an MLB official.) He also claimed he was told to change gloves because there was too much rosin on the original. Scherzer was then checked again after the fourth inning, after which he was thrown out for a sticky hand.
“That was the stickiest [a hand] since I’ve been inspecting hands, that goes back three seasons,” crew chief Dan Bellino told a pool reporter. “It was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were stuck to his hand.”
For his part, Scherzer was seen on the show screaming that it was “just rosin” on his hands. After the game, he continued to argue, telling reporters, “If you use sweat and rosin, your hand is sticky. But I don’t understand how I get ejected when I stand in front of MLB officials and do exactly what you want them to do and how my hand is too sticky for using a legal substance. I do not understand that.”
The MLB press release announcing the suspension reported the events as follows:
MLB reviewed relevant video and first-person reports, including a report from the umpire’s crew, led by Crew Chief Dan Bellino. Despite receiving a warning early in the game, including a request to change equipment, Mr. Scherzer was found to have violated the official baseball rules prohibition of foreign substances before the end of the fourth inning. After being checked at the end of the second inning, Mr. Scherzer was told to wash his hands before returning to the next inning and to be checked again before the third inning. When Mr. Scherzer was inspected before pitching in the third inning, the umpires found his pitching hand was clean but found a sticky substance in the pocket of his glove and Mr. Scherzer was ordered to replace his glove. The umpires inspected Mr. Scherzer one last time as he walked to the pitching mound for the fourth inning and found that Mr. Scherzer’s throwing hand was even more shiny and sticky than it was at the second inning inspection, although it hadn’t even had one yet pitch. Based on the umpires’ training to spot rosin on a pitcher’s hands, they concluded that the level of stickiness during the fourth inning check was so extreme that it was not related to the use of rosin and/or sweat alone was compatible. Both umpires reported difficulty removing the substance from their own hands for several innings thereafter. In accordance with official baseball rules, the umpires then appropriately ejected Mr. Scherzer from the game.
Also, regarding the use of rosin by pitchers, the league publication notes that:
As late as March 16, 2023, all 30 clubs were reminded that “the use of rosin (P)layer must always comply with the requirements and expectations of the Official Rules of Baseball (or other parts of the uniform), rosin may be classified by umpires as a prohibited foreign substance.” , the use of which can expel and discipline a player. See OBR 3.01 and OBR 6.02(d). In addition, players must not intentionally combine rosin with other substances (such as sunscreen) to create additional stickiness.”
Referee Phil Cuzzi has been involved in other sticky ejections in the past. It was Cuzzi who threw both Hector Santiago and Caleb Smith in the 2021 season. Both were then given 10-game bans.
Pitchers tend to use grip-enhancing substances to improve their control and improve their spin rates. It’s perhaps notable that Scherzer’s spin rates didn’t consistently increase during Wednesday’s game, according to Statcast. His fastball was up 68 RPM, and both his curveball (18) and slider (5) showed modest increases, but his changeup and cutter both had spin rates below their seasonal averages.
MLB signaled earlier this spring that it would once again crack down on the use of sticky substances. The league first introduced the current anti-adhesion policy in June of the 2021 season to curb the widespread use of spider tack, pine tar and similar adhesives. Just last week, New York Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán was ordered to wash his hands after umpires thought he was using too much rosin. “This was not a throwable offense because we didn’t feel it met the foreign substance standard where it affected his pitching,” umpire James Hoye told NJ.com.
Coincidentally, Scherzer was one of the first pitchers to make a public show in response to the checkdowns, removing his belt in a gesture to then-Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Scherzer has a 3.72 ERA (112 ERA+) and a 1.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four starts this season. His current walk rate (4.2 per nine innings) would represent the highest of his 16-year big league career.
Scherzer’s absence will stretch an already thin Mets rotation. New York are currently without Justin Verlander, José Quintana and Carlos Carrasco through injury. Verlander, at least, is expected to return sooner rather than later.