Last week was an eventful one for New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer.
During a start against the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday, he was flagged for allegedly using an illegal substance on the ball.
He was ejected by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi after he and home plate umpire Dan Bellino allegedly found his hand to be stickier than any other player they had inspected since MLB enforced suspensions in 2021.
Scherzer swore he was just using “sweat and rosin”.
He kept repeating that to the umpires before he was tossed in the heated discussion.
Rosin is allowed, but umpires can determine whether it is too much, and then eject the player.
Sweat and rosin.
The phrase stuck for Mets players, and they found a clever way to support one of the veteran leaders of the clubhouse.
“A few Mets players have been spotted in the clubhouse wearing T-shirts with the phrase ‘Sweat and Rosin’ on them,” Mets reporter Andrew Tredinnick tweeted.
A few Mets players have been spotted in the clubhouse wearing T-shirts with the phrase "Sweat and Rosin" on them.
— Andrew Tredinnick (@andrew_tred) April 25, 2023
Scherzer received a mandatory 10-game suspension following his ejection.
He said he wasn’t going to appeal because the arbiter wasn’t going to be neutral.
He started serving his suspension on Thursday evening and will be eligible to return on May 1.
The Mets rotation is really struggling at the moment because Justin Verlander hasn’t returned from his shoulder injury, Jose Quintana has a long-term ailment, and Carlos Carrasco’s elbow is hurt.
Scherzer was probably telling the truth when he said he was just using “sweat and rosin,” but he is now forced to be sidelined until the start of the new month anyway.
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