The Mets’ series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine had a few extra fireworks early in the game. Just when starting pitcher Max Scherzer was settling into a groove, he was ejected after multiple foreign substance inspections.
There was a lot to digest after New York won the game and the series. But the most important thing moving forward is what’s next for Scherzer. According to stricter rules regarding foreign substances, an ejection leads to an automatic 10-game suspension.
Scherzer was quite adamant that all he was using was MLB-issued rosin and his own sweat. But at the end of the day, it may not matter. Even if the intent to cheat wasn’t there, rosin can be considered a foreign substance (which doesn’t make sense to me).
SNY’s John Harper also shared some bad news for the Mets’ hopes of trying to overturn (or, at least lessen) Scherzer’s impending suspension:
Spoke to source today who says Scherzer has "zero chance" of avoiding mandatory 10-game suspension from ejection. Source notes that 2023 MLB memo explicitly says rosin can be deemed an illegal substance if overused. That it's not supposed to be applied anywhere but on the mound.
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) April 20, 2023
Whatever you do, don’t show this to Max Scherzer. It’ll probably make him blow his top all over again.
I believe this is the first ejection since MLB sent a memo about being more strict with enforcing the rules. New York and its hurler will apparently be given a hearing so they can air out their side of the story. But if there’s “zero chance” of anything happening other than the mandatory suspension, then what’s the point?
Sounds like it’s just typical bologna from MLB, as they make the players the bad guys when it’s the league that should’ve fixed the baseballs years ago to avoid this problem. But since they haven’t and continue to not fix the real problem, we have to deal with stuff like this.
As for the Mets, their rotation depth will be stretched even thinner. Don’t forget, Carlos Carrasco is now on the injured list and it looks like Joey Lucchesi is taking his place. Justin Verlander is close to making his debut, but probably not close enough. Or, maybe he will. Who knows — we’ll find out soon.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
