Yankees starter Domingo Germán ejected over sticky stuff one night after Aaron Judge cheating accusations

New York Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán was ejected from Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays (NYY 6, TOR 3) after being checked for foreign substances, but denied that he had run afoul of MLB’s sticky stuff rules. Germán retired the first nine batters he faced, then was stopped when he came out to start the fourth inning. All four umpires were part of the inspection.

Crew chief James Hoye told reporters, including MLB.com, Germán’s hand was the “stickiest I’ve ever felt,” and added it was “definitely not rosin.”  Here is the inspection and the ejection:

Yankees pitcher Domingo German has been thrown out of the game after a substance check

(via @Sportsnet)pic.twitter.com/5B2mMZydg2

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 17, 2023

Max Scherzer denies using illegal substances after ejection from Mets-Dodgers game

Max Scherzer was ejected before the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers after he appeared to run afoul of MLB’s rules forbidding sticky substances.

The drama began at the start of the third inning, when Scherzer met with first-base umpire Phil Cuzzi for a foreign substance check. Cuzzi ended up ordering him to change gloves for the inning, which he did.

Before the fourth inning, however, Scherzer once again had his hands and glove inspected by the umpires, and he was ejected after a heated argument…

According to SNY field reporter Steve Gelbs, Scherzer was repeatedly shouting “It’s just rosin” to the umpires before his ejection. MLB provides a rosin bag to pitchers as a legal option to improve pitch grip, but the combination of rosin and sunscreen or sweat has been known for years to provide a DIY sticky substance. Scherzer is very aware of this.

MLB to test a new “enhanced-grip” baseball in the Southern League in 2023

Major League Baseball is testing a new iteration of an “enhanced-grip” baseball in the Double-A Southern League this season, which starts Friday.

A similar test was called off early last year after it became clear that the ball being tested was not going to be the solution to lingering concerns about how well major-league pitchers can grip a baseball without resorting to performance-enhancing so-called “sticky stuff.” Changes were made based on player feedback, resulting in the ball that will be tested this year — though implementation at the major-league level would be a long way off and, indeed, might never come to pass if the league ultimately decides that the long-standing process of “muddying” the baseball is better than any synthetic alternative.

Rawlings, which MLB purchased in 2018, makes all the MLB baseballs. But the balls emerge from that process too slick and too shiny for game use. For decades, that has been addressed with the charmingly low-fi approach of having clubhouse attendants hand-rub special mud onto each baseball.

In recent years, several factors have led MLB to look for a superior — or at least more standardized — solution. In the middle of 2021, as offensive numbers reached new lows, the league cracked down on illegal use of substances beyond the prescribed rosin to get a better grip on baseballs because such substances had led to increased spin on increasingly unhittable pitches. The use of sticky stuff was deemed problematic for the way it gave pitchers an added advantage over hitters, but the grip component — nearly necessary in some conditions — is something the league is open to replicating.