New York Mets pitcher Drew Smith was ejected from a Tuesday evening game due to an alleged sticky substance on his hand, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Umpires inspected Smith who was on his way to the mound at the top of the seventh inning, as the Mets trailed the New York Yankees by one, the outlet reported. The reliever soon found himself surrounded by umpires, with players and Mets manager Buck Showalter also joining the crowd, the outlet reported.
Bill Miller, the first base umpire and crew chief, elected to remove Smith, explaining that he “was ejected because he had sticky hands,” per AP.
“I don’t know what’s on his hand, all I know it was sticky — sticky to the touch. It stuck to my hands when I touched it. Not only his pitching hand, but his glove hand as well,” Miller added.
“He got some pitches in places and counts he normally doesn’t get them and paid a price for it”#Mets Buck Showalter evaluates what went wrong with Max Scherzer’s outing & discusses Drew Smith’s ejection for a foreign substance on his hand following 7-6 loss to Yankees pic.twitter.com/h2uxP2xHZK
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) June 14, 2023
Smith said the ejection “surprised” him before adding “I haven’t done anything different all year. Sweat and rosin. I don’t know what else to say. Nothing changed,” according to the outlet. “I think the process is so arbitrary. It can change from one crew to the other and I think that’s the main issue.”
Smith now faces an automatic 10-game suspension. Teammate Max Scherzer served a suspension earlier in the season for a similar reason, Reuters reported.
Scherzer, unlike Smith, received a warning along with a chance to wash his hands, according to CBS Sports. (RELATED: Gucci And Rawlings Made A Custom Glove For New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor, And It’s A Thing Of Beauty)
The Mets went onto lose to the Yankees 7 to 6. The team will be unable to replace Smith before the suspension ends, the outlet reported.