The New York Mets requested a foreign substance check on opposing pitcher Joe Musgrove on Sunday night, likely because they thought he had something on his ears. Their suspicion made sense.
Musgrove’s ears were shiny while the San Diego Padres ace was pitching during Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Mets on Sunday night.
The fact that nothing was found has me concerned for the health of Musgrove’s ears. pic.twitter.com/tOl9xgj4T3
— Zach Ciavolella (Cha-vo-lel-la) (@CiavoNBA) October 10, 2022
@Mets Musgrove has got a vaseline substance all over his ear. He's been going to it early in the start of the inning. Check his ears. #cheating pic.twitter.com/Hodxndbpnb
— Aloysius (@JDuuuuuuBs) October 9, 2022
The Mets requested a foreign substance check of Musgrove, which yielded nothing.
One current MLB player has a theory on what was going on.
Former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen wrote on Twitter that he suspected Musgrove had put “Red Hot” on his ears.
Here we go. I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears. Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it “sticky.” Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) October 10, 2022
“Here we go. I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” McCutchen wrote on Twitter. “Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it ‘sticky.’ Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.”
That’s an interesting theory from McCutchen, who played 134 games with the Brewers this season. If he’s correct about Musgrove using an Icy Hot type of substance, then that wouldn’t be used to doctor the baseball. Musgrove also wouldn’t be close to being the first pitcher to do something similar.
Roger Clemens used to have a tradition of rubbing a similar hot substance on his testicles prior to pitching to get him fired up. That seemed to work out pretty well for him.
Either way, McCutchen is likely correct that at minimum, Mets manager Buck Showalter was looking to throw off Musgrove. The attempt did not work though, as Musgrove went 1-2-3 in the sixth to maintain his 1-hit shutout.
