Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday after his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand during a game.
Scherzer has appealed the punishment handed down by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, and can continue to play until the appeal is decided. The appeal will be heard by MLB special counsel John McHale Jr.
Scherzer became the third pitcher suspended by MLB since the sticky substance crackdown began in June 2021. Seattle’s Hector Santiago was fined on June 28 and Arizona’s Caleb Smith on Aug. 24, also 10 penalties.
All three inspections that led to suspensions involved umpire Phil Cuzzi.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was ejected Wednesday in the fourth inning of a game at Dodger Stadium. He claimed that the stickiness was due to rosin and sweat and not a foreign substance.
Cuzzi determined after the second inning that Scherzer’s hand was stickier and darker than normal and ordered Scherzer to wash his hand, which Scherzer said he did with alcohol while a Major League Baseball official looked on. .
After the third inning, Cuzzi determined that Scherzer’s glove pocket was “sticky,” likely containing too much rosin, and ordered Scherzer to change gloves. The umpires checked the 38-year-old right-hander again before the fourth, and his hands were worse than ever.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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