New York Mets right-hander Drew Smith was ejected from Tuesday night’s Subway Series game against the New York Yankees (NYY 7, NYM 6) following a foreign substance check. Smith came out of the bullpen to start the seventh inning and was checked before he took the mound. The umpires checked his hand, then ejected him.
After the game, Smith said he was checked by an MLB official in the tunnel behind the dugout — after being ejected — and was told there’s “nothing there” (via SNY). Here is the ejection:
“I think we’re all angry about this one,” Max Scherzer said after the game (via SNY). “You feel his hand, you don’t feel anything … He’s been cleared by every other umpire, and now all of a sudden, he’s getting thrown out.”
Foreign-substance ejections come with an automatic 10-game suspension. Smith is the second Mets player ejected for having a foreign substance on his hand this season, joining Scherzer on April 19. Yankees righty Domingo Germán was ejected for a foreign substance on May 17. Scherzer and Germán both served 10-game suspensions.
Unlike Scherzer, Smith was not given a warning and the opportunity to wash his hand. Germán had a similar issue on April 15 and was allowed to wash his hand and remain in the game. On May 17, he was not allowed to wash his hand and was immediately ejected.
“This was not an ejectable offense because we didn’t feel it rose to the foreign substance standard where it affected his pitching,” crew chief James Joye told NJ.com after Germán was allowed to stay in the April 15 game.
Smith, 29, has a 4.18 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings this season. He is one of manager Buck Showalter’s most trusted relief arms. The Mets will not be able to replace Smith on the active roster during his suspension and will have to play with 25 players.
In spring training, MLB informed teams it would crack down on foreign substances this season. The league first implemented checks in June 2021, but enforcement had become lax — no pitcher got caught in 2021 — and MLB wants to correct that.
