After another Mets pitcher was ejected following a sticky substance check this week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stood by the process that Drew Smith, Max Scherzer, and others have ripped as being “arbitrary.”
“Nothing arbitrary about the enforcement,” Manfred said, via the Associated Press. “The umpires all receive uniform training on what the use of rosin on the mound in the way that is allowed under the rules, what that feels like and what it feels like when you’re doing something illegal, either combining it with rubbing alcohol or sunscreen or some other sticky substance.
“I don’t accept the premise that it’s arbitrary. And, look, the sticky substance phenomenon was altering the way the game was being played on the field. And we feel that from an integrity and fairness perspective it’s our obligation to do everything we can to make sure those rules are enforced.”
Others around the league, outside of the Mets locker room, has called the process subjective, but Manfred says if a pitcher has been ejected this season, it was very likely with justified cause.
“We talk to the umpires after each situation like that. I think it is fair to say across the board the violation situations were in the unquestionable zone,” Manfred said. “It was absolutely clear that the level of stickiness in each situation could not be have been produced by the allowable use of a rosin bag.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)