Major League Baseball

Max Scherzer suspended 10 games for sticky substance ejection

Updated Apr. 20, 2023 7:51 p.m. ET

Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday following his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand during a game.

Scherzer appealed the penalty imposed by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, and can continue to play until the appeal is decided. The appeal would be heard by MLB special adviser John McHale Jr.

Scherzer became the third pitcher suspended by MLB since the crackdown on sticky substances started in June 2021. Seattle's Hector Santiago was penalized that June 28 and Arizona's Caleb Smith that Aug. 24, also 10-game penalties.

All three inspections that led to suspensions involved umpire Phil Cuzzi.

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was ejected on Wednesday during the fourth inning of a game at Dodger Stadium. He claimed the stickiness was caused by rosin and sweat and not by 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 watched.

After the third inning, Cuzzi then determined the pocket of Scherzer’s glove was "sticky," likely with too much rosin, and he ordered Scherzer to change gloves. The umpires then checked the 38-year-old right-hander again before the fourth, and his hands were even worse than before.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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