By: Mike Rifkin
In the Third inning of the Mets – Dodgers game, Mets starter Max Scherzer was forced to switch gloves due to a sticky substance. Before the fourth inning, Scherzer was rechecked and ejected from the game. Scherzer was adamant during his post-game that the only thing he was using was Rosin and sweat. It should be noted that Rosin is legal in Baseball.
In 2021 MLB banned sticky substances for pitchers. Pitchers caught with sticky stuff are then suspended for ten games. So far, there have been two instances with the sticky, both in 2021. Hector Santiago of the Mariners and Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks were suspended. Both ejections came from Umpire Phil Cuzzi, the same umpire who ejected the other two. Scherzer announced on Thursday that he was dropping his appeal.
Here’s my issue with what took place. Last Saturday, Yankees pitcher Domingo German was checked multiple times, which did lead to the ejection of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. If Scherzer was checked multiple times and ejected, why was German checked and not ejected if it was the same thing? Why is there only one umpire who has enforced the rule?
In 2021 Rays ace Tyler Glasnow blamed the banned sticky substance for why he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery. Glasnow said, “ I just threw 80-something innings & you just tell me I can’t use anything. I have to change everything. I truly believe 100% that’s why I got hurt. I’m frustrated MLB doesn’t understand. You can’t just tell us to use nothing. It’s crazy.” Instead of slowly trying to change the rule, MLB has expected pitchers to go Cold Turkey. At the same time, pitchers are allowed to use Rosin, but they don’t say how much Rosin is too much. Pitchers cannot put the Rosin in their gloves, but they can use it for a better grip.
MLB hasn’t figured out a solution for this issue. MLB didn’t have a solution, and they expected the umpires to police the issue. Now they’re blaming a problem on the players that is an MLB problem. Rob Manfred has to work with the players to devise a solution because the umpires don’t know how to police the rules except for Phil Cuzzi.
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