Max Scherzer suspension highlights gaping hole in MLB foreign substance ruling

Max Scherzer is a shoo-in for the hall of fame. It is not even debatable. First ballot, no doubt. He has over 3,000 strikeouts and three Cy Young Awards to his name. Any way you cut it, he is one of the best pitchers in the game.

Scherzer is a pitcher commanding velocity, movement, and control. Unfortunately, he also has history with umpires going over and beyond to find sticky, foreign substances on his hand.

On Wednesday afternoon, as the Mets were on their way to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, home plate umpire Dan Bellino and crew chief Phil Cuzzi demanded that Scherzer wash his hand. After the second inning, in front of an MLB official, Scherzer complied, washing his hand with alcohol.

As he took the mound in the third inning, Scherzer used the rosin bag and upon being checked again, was told that his glove was abnormally sticky, to which he protested that it was simply the rosin. Cuzzi demanded that the glove be changed for a new one. It was and when Scherzer was checked again in the fourth inning, Cuzzi decided to summarily throw Scherzer out of the game. Through this all, Scherzer protested that it was simply rosin and sweat, that no other substance was present.

“Cuzzi said my hand’s too sticky,” explained Scherzer after the game. “I said, ‘I swear on my kids’ lives, I’m not using anything else. This is sweat and rosin, sweat and rosin.’ I keep saying it over and over, and they touch my hand, they say it’s sticky. Yes, it is, because it’s sweat and rosin. They say it’s too sticky. They threw me out because of that.”

Dan Bellino explained the umpire’s side of the story, saying, “Both Phil and I touched his hand. As far as stickiness, level of stickiness, this was the stickiest that it has been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which now goes back three seasons. Compared to the first inning, the level of stickiness, it was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand. And whatever was on there remained on our fingers afterward for a couple innings, where you could still feel that the fingers were sticking together.”

Here is where it gets murky. Bellino has a history with this kind of thing. Remember the stare down and ejection with Madison Bumgarner last season that forced Bellino to backtrack later? Here it is to refresh your memory.

There have been only three pitchers ejected for sticky foreign substances on their hand since the MLB updated their policy. The umpire who checked the pitchers in all three cases? Phil Cuzzi.

So either the MLB has hired two super sleuths who can detect what no other umpires can, or there is a serious two-pronged problem with umpire ego and rule interpretation.

And that lays bare the heart of the issue. All of this rule is based on a subjective view. As Orel Hershiser wondered aloud, “I don’t know how they judge what level of tackiness is illegal? And rosin, believe me, is sticky. But I think we’ve come to a place there, when you are kicking Max Scherzer out, that we need to inspect what’s going on.”

Scherzer seemed dumbfounded when he said, “I don’t get how I get ejected when I’m in front of MLB officials doing exactly - EXACTLY - what you want. And being deemed my hands too sticky when I’m using legal substances, I do not understand that.”

With cameras everywhere, with officials in each clubhouse, with the intense scrutiny everywhere, this is an area that should require positive evidence of foreign substances and not simply a feeling from the umpire. The MLB is trying to change the game in every area, sometimes hitting and sometimes missing, but this is one area that needs to be addressed now.

The consequences of ejection are dire for the pitcher involved as it carries an automatic ten week suspension. Max Scherzer wasted no time is saying that he will be appealing and bringing legal action against the league in the case.