New York Mets starter Max Scherzer is going to miss a little bit of time as he serves a 10-game suspension for being caught with what umpires believed was a foreign substance on his hands.
The veteran ace was ejected in the fifth inning of his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
Rather than appeal the suspension, Scherzer chose to ultimately accept his punishment and serve his 10 games.
However, the right-hander maintains that he was using a legal substance.
On Thursday, Scherzer was asked about his decision to accept his suspension and the state of the game as umpires continue to crack down on substances.
Max Scherzer says it's "extremely difficult" to accept his suspension
"I hope that we can modify the rule. The intent of this rule was to clean up the game. I don't think it was intended to crack down on pitchers that were using legal substances. I used legal substances" pic.twitter.com/QsLzDfcr1z
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 21, 2023
Scherzer said that it was ultimately a very tough decision for him to accept his suspension, which will ultimately cause him to miss two starts and not return until May.
He also stated that he hopes Major League Baseball will modify the rule, acknowledging that the intent of the rule was to clean up the game and weed out the pitchers who were using foreign substances, rather than to punish all pitchers who use substances.
Scherzer then maintained that he did in fact use a legal substance and that the umpires were wrong to eject him from the game.
When the umpires ejected the veteran right-hander, he claimed to them that he was using rosin, which is actually legal.
Scherzer stated that there needs to be a little give and take on the rule and that there are certain parameters that umpires must work around before they check a pitcher for substances.
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