New York Mets ace Max Scherzer was ejected prior to the fourth inning of Wednesday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers after two separate inspections from the umpire crew led by Phil Cuzzi.
Scherzer was forced to change his glove in the third inning after Cuzzi inspected the mitt and its contents.
“My hand was a little clumpy from the rosin and sweat. Phil told me to wash it off,” Scherzer told reporters after the game (h/t SNY), doing so with alcohol in front of an MLB official. “[Cuzzi] said it was too sticky and I had to wash it off and apply… then he thought my glove had too much rosin on it.”
While walking out to the mound to start the fourth, he was hailed over by Cuzzi and his crew again where they took the 38-year-old right-hander’s glove and looked it over.
After nearly a minute of an animated conversation with Cuzzi alongside Mets manager Buck Showalter, Scherzer was ejected.
“I knew I was going to be checked again in the fourth. I’d have to be an absolute idiot to try and do anything in the fourth,” Scherzer said. “I’m in front of an MLB official, I wash my hand with alcohol, I grab rosin, and I grab sweat… And Phil Cuzzi said my hand was too sticky… I don’t get how I’m ejected when I’m in front of MLB officials and doing exactly what you want.”
Scherzer was seen on the SNY television broadcast emphatically telling Cuzzi that “it’s just rosin. It’s just rosin.”
Rosin is still a legal substance supplied on every pitcher’s mound in Major League Baseball after the league cracked down on sticky substances like spider tack that were giving an unfair advantage to pitchers — who used it to get extra movement on their pitches.
Scherzer had completed three scoreless innings against the Dodgers after his originally-scheduled start on Sunday was pushed back three days due to back soreness. Jimmy Yacobonis came in to relieve the ejected veteran for the middle innings.
After Showalter confirmed that Scherzer wasn’t ejected for arguing — meaning it was because of a sticky substance situation — the pitcher now faces a 10-game suspension with a chance to appeal.
“He was using rosin. That’s what’s on the field,” Showalter said. “The substance is very legal. He wiped it off, he washed it. Phil’s a guy who’s known for that… He just didn’t like that rosin was on his hand.”
