(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
New York Mets ace Max Scherzer was in the middle of the storm on Wednesday.
He completed three successful inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Before taking the mound for the fourth, the umpires flagged him for using a foreign substance on his glove/hand.
It was the first base umpire, Phil Cuzzi, who ejected him after an inspection and a heated argument from the pitcher, who insisted he was doing nothing wrong.
Before the game, umpires had him change gloves, and he was tossed because his hand was still sticky.
Scherzer kept saying that it was rosin and sweat, but it didn’t matter.
Independent reporter John Harper says that there is virtually no chance Scherzer is avoiding the mandatory 10-game suspension for these types of infractions.
“Spoke to source today who says Scherzer has ‘zero chance’ of avoiding mandatory 10-game suspension from ejection. Source notes that 2023 MLB memo explicitly says rosin can be deemed an illegal substance if overused. That it’s not supposed to be applied anywhere but on the mound,” Harper tweeted.
Spoke to source today who says Scherzer has “zero chance” of avoiding mandatory 10-game suspension from ejection. Source notes that 2023 MLB memo explicitly says rosin can be deemed an illegal substance if overused. That it’s not supposed to be applied anywhere but on the mound.
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) April 20, 2023
Evidently, the umpire crew thought the substance, in this case, was being overused.
That’s what chief umpire Dan Bellino told Mets insider Tim Healey:
Crew chief Dan Bellino on Scherzer: “The level of stickiness on his hand was much worse than it was even in the initial inspection that had taken place two innings prior…this was the stickiest that it has been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which now goes back 3 seasons.”
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) April 19, 2023
Whether Scherzer was cheating or not is a debate for another day.
The fact is that in any case, he looks like a sure bet to be suspended for 10 games in accordance to the league’s foreign substance rules.
The Mets rotation is already down Jose Quintana, Justin Verlander, and Carlos Carrasco, so losing Scherzer, even if it is for 10 games, would be a blow.
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