Max Scherzer got tossed after a bizarre sequence during a Mets game, and he wasn’t happy about it. In the second inning, umpires told him his hand was too sticky. Scherzer explained it was just sweat and rosin, but umpire Phil Cuzzi told him to wash it off and reapply. He did that, using alcohol and a fresh glove as instructed. Before the fourth, he cleaned his hand again in front of an MLB official and only used rosin and sweat. Still, Cuzzi checked him again and said it was stickier than any hand he’d felt in three seasons.
The exchange got heated. Scherzer insisted over and over that it was just rosin and sweat. He said he’d have to be an idiot to cheat knowing he’d be checked again. Umpires didn’t buy it. Dan Bellino told reporters it couldn’t have been just rosin because his whole hand was unusually sticky. The crew tossed Scherzer, despite his protests and visible frustration. Later, it was pointed out that Scherzer never touched the rosin bag on the mound, which raised questions about whether pitchers are now more often applying rosin in the dugout, perhaps because of pitch clock changes. Regardless, the umpires decided it crossed a line.