Umpire Phil Cuzzi explains why he ejected Max Scherzer

Aug 7, 2022; Oakland, California, USA; Third base umpire Phil Cuzzi (10) gestures during the first inning of the game between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Umpire Phil Cuzzi explained after Wednesday’s New York Mets-Los Angeles Dodgers game why he ejected Max Scherzer.

Scherzer was forced by the umpires to switch gloves before pitching the third inning of his Mets’ 5-3 win over the Dodgers. Then the Mets starter was ejected after being checked again prior to pitching the fourth (video here).

Umpires Dan Bellino and Cuzzi spoke with pool reporters after the game to explain their decision. Both said that Scherzer’s hand was the stickiest they’ve experienced.

“As far as stickiness, level of stickiness, this was the stickiest that it has been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which now goes back three seasons,” Bellino said.

Cuzzi said more of the same.

“I said this to Buck (Showalter) and to Max, it really didn’t matter to us what it is. All we know that it was far stickier than anything that we felt certainly today and anything this year,” Cuzzi said.

Scherzer was adamant that it was just sweat and rosin.

Umpire Phil Cuzzi: "I said this to Buck and to Max, it really didn't matter to us what it is. All we know that it was far stickier than anything that we felt certainly today and anything this year."

— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) April 19, 2023

Scherzer was adamant that his hand was sticky due to a combination of just rosin and sweat, which are both legal. He also made the strong point that he would have had to be an idiot to cheat knowing the umpires were watching him so closely and were going to check him again.

What’s interesting to note is that Cuzzi seems to be a stickler when it comes to foreign substances. Including Scherzer, there have only been three pitchers ejected since foreign substance checks began. Cuzzi was responsible for two ejections and Bellino for the third.

Including Max Scherzer today, there have been three pitchers to get ejected for foreign substances since the checks were instituted

Phil Cuzzi was the umpire for all three

(via @BaseballDoesnt) pic.twitter.com/bw9nU3OB2i

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 19, 2023

You may recall that Bellino had a bizarre run-in with Madison Bumgarner last year during a substance check.