7:53pm: In a surprising twist, Scherzer informed reporters this evening he’s elected not to appeal after all (video provided by SNY). The right-hander said he’d initially believed an appeal would be heard by a neutral arbitrator but later was informed it would go in front of an MLB official. (Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic specifies that special assistant to the commissioner John McHale would have heard the appeal.) As a result, Scherzer conceded he wouldn’t win and has elected not to pursue it.
He’ll begin serving his ban tonight and is ineligible to return until May 1. Because Scherzer was suspended for an on-field rules violation, the Mets are not permitted to replace him on the active roster. They’ll roll with 25 players for the remainder of the month.
6:56pm: Major League Baseball announced Thursday evening that Mets star Max Scherzer has been suspended for ten games for “violating the prohibitions on foreign substances.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount, which Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports at $10K (Twitter link).
Foreign substance ejections come with an automatic ten-game suspension, so this has seemed likely since Scherzer was thrown out of yesterday’s start against the Dodgers. Scherzer stated after yesterday’s game that he’d appeal any suspension. Heyman tweets this evening that he plans to do so. Scherzer has been adamant he was only using legally-permissible rosin, swearing on the life of his children in the process. Umpires Phil Cuzzi and Dan Bellino, however, explained after the game that Scherzer’s hand was stickier than any other they had inspected previously.
Bellino opined that Scherzer had used “something likely more than rosin” based on its stickiness. MLB’s announcement reflected a similar sentiment. “Based on the umpires’ training to detect rosin on a pitcher’s hands, they concluded that the level of stickiness during the fourth inning check was so extreme that it was inconsistent with the use of rosin and/or sweat alone,” the league wrote. MLB’s press release says umpires “appropriately ejected Mr. Scherzer from the game” at that point.
While the league apparently believes Scherzer applied an illicit substance other than rosin, its press release also points to another potential justification for the ejection/suspension. MLB points out that it sent a memo to clubs during Spring Training reminding that “when used excessively or otherwise misapplied (i.e., to gloves or other parts of the uniform), rosin may be determined by the umpires to be a prohibited foreign substance, the use of which may subject a player to ejection and discipline.” Whether because of the umpiring crew’s determination Scherzer had used a non-rosin sticky substance or the possibility the three-time Cy Young winner applied too much of the otherwise permissible rosin, the league imposed discipline.
It was reported back in June 2021 the league was planning to crack down on the use of “sticky stuff” that pitchers use to improve their grip on the baseball but also to increase spin rates. Two players were suspended not too long after that, with Héctor Santiago of the Mariners getting hit later that same month, followed by Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks in August. No suspensions were handed out last year, but it was reported in February the league was planning to further crack down this year.
Scherzer declined comment when speaking with Mets’ reporters this evening. He said only that his camp is “working on it” in reference to fighting the ban (relayed by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). There’s sure to be more clarity on the appeals process over the next few days.
If Scherzer indeed has to sit out for a week and a half, it’ll deal another hit to a rotation already down Justin Verlander, José Quintana and Carlos Carrasco to injury. That has pushed David Peterson and Tylor Megill into the starting five alongside Kodai Senga and previously necessitated a spot start from José Butto.
Skipper Buck Showalter told reporters tonight that left-hander Joey Lucchesi will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to start tomorrow’s game against the Giants (via Mike Puma of the New York Post). It’ll represent Lucceshi’s first MLB action in nearly two years. He lost all of last season to Tommy John surgery.
Let’s see how much he whines!
Did the substance get tested and came back something other than Rosin? He swore on his kids.
They gave the glove back. There’s no test. It was probably Rosin, but excessive Rosin is still against the rules. So is using Rosin other than the bag on the mound, and since Max was sticky before even getting to the mound, he’s obviously applying Rosin elsewhere. He’s breaking the rules on a technicality, something a lot of pitchers probably do, but he got caught twice in one game.
Maybe he was thinkin Angelina Jolie & dug down too deep for the next pitch
Sticky is not a crime,
Curley, I think you’re right……thus the discharge.
Guilty until proven weird…
Oh wait weird until proven guilty
All hands on deck, sticky until proven…
I’ve lost my train of thought
Yeah. I actually think these rules are dumb.
Excessive rosin? What’s the limit? He has a great case because of the ambiguity of the rule.
That’s exactly my point, and the problem. The rules are so ambiguous. The ump deemed Max too sticky. How can you fight that? The rule is dumb.
Because an arbitration case would most likely rule that the rule is invalid for being to ambiguous.
Didn’t he say he had a MLB rep there with him the whole time?
Nope. Players agreed to this
The players didn’t agree to this. This was implemented by mlb without union consent.
The ump has the ultimate power.
Know why he threw him out?
Cuzzi could.
@ von purple
They warned him, yet he continued doing what he was doing. If they had booted him on the first check, I would agree with you. It was the third check that got him ejected.
Not even what happened. He even washed his hands in front of an MLB official. But keep automatically just believing what the umpires said. They e never been wrong before huh?
The rule on foreign substance has been around for a long time, 3.01 I think. It was only in 2021 that they decided to start to enforce it more with rule 6.02.
It seems to rosinate with everybody on this forum.
And what’s also dumb about the rules, is there’s no testing. It’s all based on an Umpire’s opinion.
I remember trevor bauer showing how pitchers use rosin. They rolled it between their fingers to “burn it” as he called it. This made the rosin sticky enough that when bauer held his hand flat palm down the ball stayed glued to his hand.
Edit found the rosin video, its still up if you do a search for bauer and rosin.Title is “Bauer explains rosin.”
Curly – As long as Scherzer wasn’t thinking of Kate Upton, that would be no es bueno.
just once more about those rules hayes.
He got his hands wet. But he never did get the excess rosin and/or illegal substance off his hands. They warned him twice and finally ejected him on the third inspection.
The players agreed to this. Every rule with a penalty must be collectively bargained.
😮
oH nO! nOt hIs kIdS!
Doesn’t matter, league sent and email covering their asses for any witch trial behavior back in February…
I’m done watching baseball this year… wake me up when September ends…
“Well? BYE!”
His kids got suspended too.
Actions have consequences.
He whined so much already he literally called himself an idiot!!!! No he’s tucking his tail in and not appealing.
It’s 10 game mandatory. He couldn’t win. It was pointless. It’s not tucking his tail, it’s accepting the inevitable.
Joey Lucchesi – your Uber is waiting
Instead of 10 games it should be 10 Starts.
Damn right. 10 days is nothing. And 10k, really? That’s not even tip money when making 43.3M per season.
Fine and lost salary are two different things
Based on his yearly salary, the lost salary over the suspension for 10 games should be somewhere between 2.5 to 3 million. That’s a way bigger deal than the $10K fine
Except it’s a paid suspension. He still gets paid.
2 weeks off paid vacation doesn’t sound so bad
Suspensions are without pay.
And the team can’t replace him.
Incorrect. Suspensions are unpaid, so he’ll lose $2.5M+ in salary alone for being suspended. The fine is inconsequential. Playing a man down for 10 days also hurts his team badly. The bullpen is going to be taxed over the next 10 days while he sits out. Any Mets bullpen pitcher with options remaining better be prepared for a trip to AAA as they’ll have to replenish the pen with fresh arms.
If it’s true that there’s no loss of pay for a sticky substance suspension then that’s a wild exception because all other suspensions as far as I can tell are without pay. Rendon had to forfeit salary for the fan altercation suspension, Bauer for his DV suspension, Tatis for the PEDs.
I don’t see the rationale for treating this any differently. If the league is going to suspend people for breaking the rules they should be consistent about it being without pay.
On field suspensions are paid. He will only lose 10k.
Dotty – He will miss one start, the 25th against the Nats. When he returns May 1st he will be on one additional day of rest. It’s not a big deal at all.
Pretty sure an 8-man bullpen can cover 6 or 7 innings over a 10-game span.
Yeah as long as the Lolmets still have to pay his contract then I agree. The Lolmets are full of nothing but cheaters. Makes sense considering where the team is located
Fill your mouth full of sticky stuff,
Exactly right. Ten days (two starts) won’t change anything. Ten starts might make some of these guys think twice.
He’s missing only one start and having another delayed just one day
so there’s at least 9 mets hating Morons reading these posts
Joe Musgrove to Brian Kenny…’You were saying’
And German gets off with a warning leading to the other team’s manager getting ejected.
What a joke.
After being caught, Scherzer was asked to wash his hands and he came back sticky. After being caught, German was asked to wash his hands and remained unsticky. The situations are completely different.
Incorrect. German still had sticky stuff on his hands after being warned.
100% Incorrect. German still had sticky fingers when coming out for the 4th (after being told to wash). It is literally why the umps scolded him for 5 minutes before the 4th inning. Jomboy made a Zapruder film of the whole thing.
No no no, they had to stick it to the mets for the one that slipped away from the yankees, you know there should be a balance in Gotham City..German is the good guy (he apologized) and the psycho is a villain
Twice in two days, whyhayzee. Triggered?
“When he returned and it was still on there partially, on part of his hand, I didn’t think there was really any question he should be removed from the game.”
Hands were not clean. Cheater. Plain and simple.
Nice sourcing. And it’s not as if you aren’t always triggered about the Yankees. You’ve been triggered for several decades.
See below.
I see Baltimore, Toronto, and Boston.
You getting the summer pool ready, yet?
Call the whaaaaaaaambulance, whinehayzee.
Good. Now do the same to German.
And I have a sneaky suspicion these guys have found a way to mix rosin with something in the dugout to make it stickier. They don’t get checked on the way to the mound often.
You can bet on it…and they don’t check catchers.
Not going to tell you why I said that.
reds? thanks for not telling us. this junior high talk is sticky enough.
Brian Kenny and Mad Dog need to apologize to senor Musgrove
Sticky fingers ten games without salary would be almost three million bet Max is mad. But he can use the rest.
This is awesome!
Lolmets
even if it is innocent, he was warned and still was there.
I agree with others with the 10day thing. that’s one or two starts. 30 team games sounds about right to me.. would be about 5 starts +/-
the 10k fine against his salary is laughable.. but its probably the same fine for someone who makes 700k which makes a little more if a difference
The player’s union really screwed up by not having input when this rule was put into play. Their ” leader” obviously didn’t do his due diligence. MLB gave the umps and themselves the the power to do what they want. Fair and just is only what they deem.
The rule has been there for a very long time. the only difference is that the umps actually check often. Before no one would check unless it was really fishy or a bench asked. Of course people rarely asked because their pitchers were doing it too.
All of this was collectively bargained. No rule can be put in place that affects playing time or has a fine or other financial penalty without the players agreeing to every part of it. The rule. The methods used to determine guilt, in other words how they check. The penalties. Worse yet, Scherzer was a player rep thar worked on this rule.
Is he a Rolling Stones fan?…………Sticky Fingers….zipper trouble
Nah!!! He’s a Crystal Gale fan.
Don’t all this make his brown eye blue?
And vice versa.
Scherzer should sue MLB baseball. This league is a joke with these new rules.
He has nothing to sue over. He broke a rule. A bad rule, but a rule.
What rule is that? The rule of a discretionary determination by a random umpire assigned for that game. He has a real good legal case to have this tossed.
Yes. Exactly. It’s a bad rule, but that’s what it is literally. There’s no legal issue. He was deemed too sticky. That’s the rule. Is it ridiculous? Yes. But I don’t see how you can fight a rule that’s intentionally ambiguous.
You are talking about a player with hundreds of millions in wealth and an agent that runs baseball. They have resources to fight this and not accept but MLB said.
You sound like a 12 year old…no, he definitely does not have a good legal case. I get that you’re a huge homer, but that doesn’t change reality.
A ten game suspension won’t affect the Mets season one bit. I could care less if he misses an April start. Legally ambiguous laws or rules always go the way of the accused.
Nuts
Well, Mets6986, since Max himself is not appealing, I think you can stop defending him.
You need to get a refund on your dollar store legal education…
Laws and rules are not the same and despite the fact that an ambiguous law should be interpreted in favor of the violator or deemed inapplicable at all, anyone with any experience, knows that’s not actually how it works in far too many instances.
The fact that Scherzer isn’t even going to bother to appeal tells you all you need to know.
He has absolutely zero standing to sue MLB. Someone has never taken a law class, ever. Clearly.
A rule he was on the committee that agreed to it. This has a financial penalty so it has to be collectively bargained. Federal labor law. Scherzer was player rep on committee.
His hand felt too sticky? How is that proof of anything?
thats literally the rule
Nevertheless the question still stands.
It’s proof that his hand was too sticky…per the ump’s judgment…ya know, the rule.
Your own statement validates my original point.
Only a smooth brain would think your, “point”, has any validity. I’m sorry that you don’t get what people are explaining to you, but that’s a you problem..
What about a smooth skin?
And for you… (shakes head sadly) they always will.
Cheater starting pitchers should get suspended for 10-starts, not 10 games.
Good. Then we will never see Foreign Substance Man again. Ban Cole, “the biggest cheater in baseball”.
Triggered, biased Red Sox fan blows up again. And the guy is like 70.
@whyhayzee
Yes, one if the biggest cheaters. He should be out just like Bauer
Cole looked great the other day, didden he?
Heh heh heh heh…
For using rosin giving by the league? Get real.
@Mets6986??
For breaking the rules regarding rosin use.
Can you tell me what the rule states as what the limit is?
@Mets6986??
MLB put a memo out in 2021 stating rosin can only be used on the mound.
That’s not even the rule. On bad weather days pitchers are asked to take the rosin bag with them to the dugout. The rule says you can’t put it into your glove. However if you are sweeting and using rosin it probably has a very good chance of wiping off in your glove since the rule says it can be used on both hands. If you ever watched Scherzer pitch you would see he sweets a lot.
Even Scherzer disagrees with you that he has a case here, just stop.
Read the Official Rules of Baseball 6.02 and the Commissioner’s memo last season.
Your man got snapped, metsie.
Deal with it.
German sure looked good the other day, didden he?
He used rosin not supplied by the league. He never touched the rosin bag on the mound. By his own admission he applied it in the tunnel. That is against the rules.
Show the man who’s the man. Walk away. Baseball has ruined itself. Abner Bubblegum must be turning in his grave.
I’ll tell ya who else is turning over in his grave … Gaylord Perry. Not only did he get away with this ball doctoring activity, he wrote a book about it and still gets in to the hall of fame. I feel ya A-1. What the pitchers are doing here is more gamesmanship then cheating. It’s a part of the game. Hitters use gamesmanship actions as well to gain an advantage. Let the boys play, darn it!
The “sticky stuff” rule is poorly defined.
That’s the point. These pitchers are going to great lengths to subvert the rule and avoid detection & enforcement. Ambiguity and multiple random checks gives the upper hand to the rule makers and eventually should lead the pitchers to conclude the risk is not worth the reward or multiple suspensions will eventually weed out the bad actors. High profile suspensions like this are important to send a message to other pitchers contemplating the use of a foreign substance to gain an edge.
Understood, Zeus – good point. I think present practice allows too much discretion on the umpires’ side, “sticky stuff” fails in creating a reliable, measurable standard.
How could it be measured, especially while the game is in progress? Demanding a perfectly scientific standard is probably asking for too much. The umpires are there to make calls. It’s their job, and it isn’t as if a lot of pitchers are being ejected for “substance abuse.”
These guys are crazy with banned substances.
Doing some quick math, he’s paid about 13K per pitch. That is of course assuming he plays a normal complete season and has 3300 pitches a year, which he’s not done since ’18. It’s more likely that the 10K fine is about a 1/3rd or less of a pitch. Imagine that!
Should not be suspended
YesHeShould.
The test should be spin rate, not substances. Meters yesterday showed his spin rate was consistent all three innings and in line with his other starts.
WFAN reported the complete opposite, saying his spin rate was the highest of the season. But WFAN isn’t the best source. It’s just what I was listening to in traffic.
Yes, his spin rate was consistent, as he had failed 3 checks when he was booted. He never passed a check to see what his spin rate would have been without the sticky stuff.
BS
Regarding his Sticky Fingers, Scherzer couldn’t sway the umps. But Wild Horses couldn’t pull him away. In the end, he got the blues.
He`s a Honkey…….Tonk Woman
He ended up in the Goat’s Head Soup.
If I understand the suspension rules correctly, the Mets will also lose his roster spot during his suspension so they will have to make do with a 25 man active roster.
Too bad they didn’t catch him when he was a Dodger.
He wasn’t dirty as a dodger …lol
Oh what a sticky (glove) web we weave when we first practice to deceive.
I don’t follow why people are saying Max’s sentence is ‘light’, and that he should be fined more money because of what he earns.
After all, proportionate to what criminals do, and the fact that criminals are let out on bail in this country in many states for a whole range of serious crimes & offences without any deterrent or fear of the consequences of their actions, ‘Max’s suspension in comparison is way over the top’. He should be freed immediately and permitted to play immediately & given a slap on the wrist like all the criminals are in some states, and then if he transgresses the slap on his wrist should be a little harder.
Scherzer’s penalty is obviously far more detrimental to his name, and now wherever he goes he will have to carry that ‘noose’ or ‘tag’ from the ‘court of public opinion’, which I fear is a far bigger burden than any monetary penalty or game suspension…
Queue up the classy calls and shouts of ‘cheater, cheater’…
Many consider Alex Rodriguez the worst cheater in MLB history, which is a lot more justifiable considering he was a high-caliber player that was tied to one of the biggest, if not the biggest, PED scandals in American sports history.
There are certainly much worse cheaters in baseball history than Gerrit Cole.
Max will never even approach Gerrit Cole, but he gets his spanking. Good job MLB.
Cole sure looked terrific the other day, though, didden he?
Heh heh heh heh…
I’d get a 10 game ban today for the sticky stuff in my hand on 4/20 🙂
That’s resin, not rosin.
@CravenMoorehead
Is that from playing the violin or the cello and stroking the hair of the bow with rosin?
I support the Umpires, I support the Owners.
Umps don’t want to eject stars like Max, so his hands must have felt like Gorilla glue. Umps said their hands were still sticky a few innings later after ejecting him. When Boras starts talking about “standards”, Max was caught cheating.
Manfred makes another mess to infuriate the fan base! It must be Thursday.
Look at everyone making excuses for this guy when he obviously, by virtue of not appealing, is admitting to wrongdoing. He swore on his kids, talked about being a union rep and how that meant he is obligated to take an appeal as far as it would go……and then just accepts the suspension. Not a good look, irrespective of how you feel about the rule.
Sid Bream,
My understanding of this rule is that he is paid while suspended.
Maybe he just wanted a break sort of a vacation and realizes that he needs to cheat at his juncture of his pitching life or he will suck.
He was the leading pitcher who represented the Union when they agreed to these rules. Who is he kidding here playing the fool?
Actually get your facts straight, he has already appealed…
My question is, maybe someone should look at a certain Umps betting habits…just asking…
My facts straight? What? When did supposedly appeal?
Damn it, can someone do a welfare check on his kids? He swore on them
I laughed when I heard him swear on his kids that’s when I knew he did something
It’s like when a CEO or politician steps down to “spend more time with their family.” Almost always means they cheated on their spouse and got caught.
Given the illogical hole that MLB has dug regarding this issue, the only fair (and appropriately absurd) solution is to place a plumbed wash basin next to the dugout, where an ump will observe the current pitcher wash his hands and have his glove checked before takng the mound.
Hahaha – cheaters! And this guy ragged on the Astros. Insert eyeroll
After his manager made such a fuss about Musgrove
Curious as to why the Mets still get the W with their pitching cheating most of the game?
I’m not going to accuse anybody of anything that I can’t prove.
BUT. What I observed here, is Scherzer (probably) being one of the guys that these rules are being enforced for. They are on his ass this year as a chosen target. They don’t care what they find, if they find, they will fine.
I think he happened to be on the wrong side of Phil Cuzzi, who’s turned into the Bob Davidson of sticky ejections. Considering the league never took action against Balkin Bob, or the like of CB Bucknor and Angel Hernandez, I don’t imagine anyone will stop Cuzzi’s crusade either.
Anyone whining about Max cheating should stop and consider not only has he been good without relying on Spider Tack for years, but he went out in the fourth inning knowing they were going to be looking. Why would he possibly want to cheat knowing he would get caught instantly?
The league needs to modify their policy to be clearer and make more practical sense.
Why do players that know they get tested use PEDs?
Scherzer admitted to applying rosin in the tunnel. That is against the rules. You can only apply it from the MLB supplied rosin bag and that bag was on the mound.
Cuzzi insinuated it was more than rosin.
“Every pitcher we check, we’re accustomed to what that rosin residue will feel like on a pitcher’s hand. The fact that this went so much further was indicative that there was something likely more than just rosin, something that was so sticky that whatever it was, it was all over the palm, it was up on the inside of the fingers. The entire hand was stickier than anything we’d inspected before.”
And your point? Scherzer admitted he broke the rules. He said that after washing his hands he reapplied rosin. Its against the rules to do that. They checked him coming out of the dugout and before he even got to the mound and his hands were sticky. He broke the rules. Now he is paying the price with no appeal.
Maybe guys should be checked before the inning and not after. They must come out with clean hands each time, rosin up on the mound, then wash clean in the dugout to reset everything. Other than the side effect of pitchers developing hand washing OCD, it seems like the only way to really know what’s going on.
He was checked prior to the 4th inning no?
According to the NYTimes, Scherzer will lose $2.67M during the 10 day suspension. That may or may not deter him from loading up on rosin again. Probably not.
Considering every other pitcher in the league likely uses rosin, I imagine he probably will as well. Will this be the last sticky ejection by Phil Cuzzi in 2023? Probably not.
Probably considering only 3 pitchers were ejected for this. You have to be using an extreme amount to get tossed, even by Cuzzi. The players are super protected in this league.
That’s a lifetime of earnings for many of us. The difference is that he is guaranteed all that money, regardless of performance, while we can be “cut” at any point. Being paid based on past performance must be nice!
There’s no proof Max used anything other than rosin, sweat and alcohol. MLB apparently alluded to this in statement.
When Max made his comments about appealing, the situation was fresh. Max likely doesn’t throw 200 innings this year, so he gets a 12 inning or so rest here.
Max made enemies during CBA negotiations. The enemies that he made just got him. Good decision. He wasn’t going to win.
Or…Max had too much sticky stuff on his hands.
Maybe. I don’t think he was ever getting any leniency. You reap what you sow.
So now we have Max ‘Sticky Hands’ Scherzer.
“Psssh. You signed with the wrong team, Scherzer.”
– D. German, Bronx NY, 10453
If you were truly only using rosin+sweat there’s NO WAY you wouldn’t appeal.
As I understand it, the appeal would be to MLB officials, not a third-party arbitrator. No way Max was going to win.
Regardless, you would still want to just be on record as officially fighting/denying it, other than a canned statement about “I would never!”. Not appealing just gives off the air of “Ok I wont do it again, sorry”
Good riddance! It’s nice that pitchers who cheat at least get 10 games. Sure, hitters get 50 games and a permanent ban from the Hall of Fame, but it’s a step closer to equality.
Everyone is overlooking the obvious here. Scherzer was caught and guilty because it was a game against the Dodgers. The “only” honest team in baseball who never cheats. LOL And if we believe that, then there is a bridge I have to sell you. LOL