Mets' Max Scherzer won't appeal 10-game suspension by MLB for use of foreign substance

SAN FRANCISCO — Mets star pitcher Max Scherzer made the “extremely difficult” decision, he said Thursday, to accept a 10-game suspension from Major League Baseball for violating the ban on foreign substances, which umpires believed him to be using during his start against the Dodgers a day prior.

He framed his decision to not appeal as what was best for the Mets, given the upcoming schedule and other logistics, not an admission of wrongdoing.  

“I still don’t understand how I’m deemed cheating or guilty of that,” he said.  

Following Scherzer’s ejection Wednesday, MLB announced Thursday night that he was suspended 10 games, the league’s norm in these instances. Mets manager Buck Showalter called it “nothing unexpected” and “pretty much standard from history.” 

Initially, Scherzer, who insisted on his innocence in the immediate aftermath Wednesday and again upon being punished Thursday, appealed the suspension. But then he learned his case would be heard by MLB, not by a neutral arbiter.

“Given that process, I wasn’t going to come out on top,” he said.  

Viewing it as unwinnable, he dropped the appeal and took the suspension, which began Thursday as the Mets opened a four-game series against the Giants.

Scherzer will be eligible to return on May 1, the last game of the Mets’ first series against Atlanta, the five-time-defending NL East champions. 

The Mets are not allowed to add a player to replace Scherzer during his suspension. That means carrying 25 players on the 26-man roster. 

An off day Monday helps mitigate the impact of Scherzer’s absence on the Mets’ rotation, which already is missing three starting pitchers to injury: Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana and Carlos Carrasco. The last remaining member of their anticipated starting five is Kodai Senga, who pitched Thursday. 

Still, this was “what the Mets wanted me to do,” Scherzer said, so he did. 

“Very competitive guy, but he also always wants to do what’s best for the team,” Showalter said before Scherzer officially accepted the suspension. “That’s always been a common thread for him. He’s always about the team and what’s best for them. He realizes he’s just a pitcher who pitches once every fifth or sixth day.  

“We’re comfortable with what went down and what happened and where there was a lack of guilt . . . He didn’t really do anything.” 

MLB’s announcement included a review of the goings-on leading up to Scherzer’s ejection. That included the elements that Scherzer and the umpires, primarily first-base official Phil Cuzzi and plate umpire/crew chief Dan Bellino, agreed on: During a routine sticky-substance check after the second inning, Cuzzi told Scherzer to wash his hand. Upon Scherzer’s return for the third, Cuzzi found a questionable substance in his glove, so Scherzer changed gloves. 

During a third check, right before the bottom of the fourth, Cuzzi examined Scherzer again.  

Scherzer — animated and angry on the field — pleaded to Cuzzi and Bellino that it was simply rosin and sweat. The umpires, and MLB, disagreed. 

“The umpires . . . found that Mr. Scherzer’s throwing hand was even more glossy and sticky than it was during the second inning inspection, despite not yet even throwing a pitch,” MLB said in its news release. “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.” 

Scherzer, who explained that he added sweat from his head, said: “Yeah, my hand was sticky. That’s what happens when you mix sweat and rosin. It was sticky. I’m not here to say it wans’t. But that’s legal. There’s nothing else there.” 

MLB highlighted its March 16 memo to teams and players regarding the looming re-emphasized enforcement of illegal sticky substances. That included, according to the league: “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.”  

Scherzer countered: “MLB has never come in and showed us what’s excess because we’re in different climates. LA and New York have two different climates right now. Wind is a factor, humidity is a factor in terms of what grip is. Pitchers, yeah, we struggle with that, trying to understand that. You’re constantly searching for grip. That’s what I was trying to do.” 

His suggested solution: a more objective system based on, say, the spin rate of a pitcher’s pitches, a sudden increase of which can be an indicator that a pitcher is using a sticky substance. If the spin rate jumps significantly, then the pitcher should get looked at. Scherzer’s on Wednesday were normal. 

Since MLB’s crackdown on sticky substances in June 2021, only two pitchers were punished before Scherzer: Hector Santiago, then with Seattle, and Caleb Smith, then with Arizona. All three served 10-game suspensions and claimed to be using rosin and sweat. 

The curious part: Cuzzi was the umpire in all three cases. 

“I understand where Phil is coming from, but this is bigger than Phil,” Scherzer said. “How is the rule being applied?? 

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star, said he was not worried about how this would impact how he is perceived within baseball. 

“I faced the Dodgers, I know those guys. I told them, hey, this is what I did,” he said. “They understood. They know me. I got my reputation in the game. The players understand. Players understand this. Players understand what I did. They know what I’m about.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.