Max Scherzer’s ‘sticky stuff’ ejection, and MLB’s rules explained

Drama struck Max Scherzer and the New York Mets on Wednesday when the pitcher was ejected from the team’s game against the Dodgers after three scoreless innings. Umpires deemed that Scherzer’s hands were “too sticky” at the top of the fourth following multiple checks and a glove change, ultimately ejecting the ace and forwarding the incident to the league office, where Scherzer could face an automatic 10-game suspension.

Scherzer claims he did nothing wrong, and that he would be an “absolute idiot” if he got caught trying to cheat knowing a glove check would occur in the fourth. Meanwhile umpires are saying they don’t know why the pitcher’s hand was so sticky, but it was far outside the norm.

Contrary to popular belief, there are some allowances for pitchers to put a sticky substance on their hands to aid with grip. However, this is strictly limited to use of rosin. A naturally occurring substance derived from the sap of fir trees, rosin comes in several forms — but in baseball the rosin is a powder contained within a bag.

Pitchers can rub the bag on their hands, wrists, or forearms, in order to provide proper grip of the ball. Guidelines provided to players in 2022 stated that under no circumstance could the rosin be applied to a player’s glove, or any part of their uniforms.

Last year MLB said that use of foreign substances by pitchers was “more prevalent” than they expected. As a result, the league required mandatory checks of pitchers before the game, and an increased number of random checks to occur regularly between innings. MLB claims this process worked, and the league saw a dip in pitching variance across baseball, as well as more consistent spin rates from pitchers.

Scherzer’s first random check happened at the bottom of the second inning, and was immediately questioned about why his pitching hand was excessively sticky. Scherzer told umpire Phil Cuzzi that his hand was “clumpy,” caused by an amalgamation of rosin and sweat. The pitcher was then instructed to wash his hand, which he did under the supervision of an MLB official.

When Scherzer returned to the game at the start of the third inning he was checked once more. This time his hand passed inspection, but the pocket of his glove was found to be sticky. At this time the pitcher was told to change gloves, which he did — and Scherzer pitched the third.

Despite both the hand washing and the glove change, Scherzer was checked again at the top of the fourth inning. He was questioned once more about why his hand was so sticky, at which point Mets manager Buck Showalter ran onto the field and joined the discussion. After several moments, Scherzer was tossed from the game, protesting and yelling “It’s rosin!”

After the game plate umpire Dan Bellino was asked about the incident and said Scherzer’s hand was unlike anything he’s seen before.

“As far as stickiness, this was the stickiest it had been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which goes back three seasons,” Bellino said. “Compared to the first inning, it was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand. Whatever was on there remained on our fingers afterwards for a couple innings. It was far more than we’ve ever seen before on a pitcher during live action.”

Umpires said they’re unsure what was on Scherzer’s hand. Stopping short of strictly saying Scherzer was cheating, officials said that whatever happened was so outside the norm it warranted ejection, especially considering they gave the pitcher two chances to clean his hands and the problem persisted.

Scherzer maintains complete innocence, saying that all he has on his hands was rosin. He did acknowledge there was rosin inside his glove, but Scherzer claims that there was no intention to cheat in doing so.

The Mets pitcher said that before he ejection he washed his hands with alcohol in front of an MLB officials, touched a rosin bag, mixed it with some sweat (which is allowed), and then came to the mound. Scherzer vehemently denies using anything else, but can’t explain why his hand was so much stickier than other players using the same technique.

The case has been forwarded to the league office for review, and if it’s found that Scherzer cheated he will face a mandatory 10-game suspension, which can be appealed.

Since MLB’s crackdown of the use of sticky stuff in 2021 only two pitchers have been suspended for foreign substance use, Hector Santiago of the Mariners, and Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks were both suspended in 2021 under the rule.

MLB will now review the accounts of both the umpires, and Scherzer — as well as any video evidence to determine whether a foreign substance was used.