Edwin Diaz’s ‘sticky hand’ ejection is latest example of MLB’s arbitrary rule

When Mets closer Edwin Diaz it was ejected on Sunday night before throwing a pitchhe became the Mets’ third pitcher last year and moved to fall victim to MLB’s arbitrary and sticky rules.

The reason behind the crackdown on sticky things is solid. The goal is to prevent pitchers from using illegal substances (like spider tack) that could give them an unfair advantage – an issue that was getting out of hand just before these new rules went into effect.

But pitchers need to be able to hold the ball correctly to be able to control where they are launching a dangerous projectile. And the interpretation and application of the rules is ridiculous.

Specifically, they’re arbitrary, unscientific and basically uncontestable — meaning a pitcher will face an automatic 10-game suspension because an umpire claims he did something that can’t be proven.

Any umpire on any day can rule that any pitcher has violated the rules. But that referee is not required to provide any real justification for an expulsion.

Speaking after the game, Diaz said his right hand had the same three things on it as always – resin (a cool substance that’s in the mound), sweat and dirt – you know, the baseball diamond stuff.

“I just said I use the same thing as always,” Diaz explained. “I rub resin, sweat and put my hands in the dirt a little because I need to have a little grip on the ball. So that’s what I was explaining to them, but they said it was too much grip. But in the end I was using resin, sweat and putting my hand in the dirt.

“I was very surprised because I had nothing in my hand, my glove, my belt. They always check my hat, everything. , and they didn’t smell anything, but they took me out of the game.”

As Diaz noted, the referees found nothing illegal on his glove or belt. They also didn’t take her glove – giving it back when he left the field.

Of course, they also didn’t take any evidence from his hand, which theoretically could have been checked for the illegal substances referee Vic Carapazza suggested Diaz was using.

Doing anything scientific that could prove your claims is not part of MLB protocol here.

“It definitely wasn’t resin and sweat,” Carapazza told a snooker reporter after the game. “We checked out thousands of them. I know what that feeling is. That was really sticky.”

There are numerous problems with what Carapazza said.

The first is that, because it was said through a pool reporter, it was not challenged with any follow-up questions.

The second is that he is making a serious claim without evidence – speaking in definitive terms about something he could not be certain of.

And therein lies the problem with MLB’s complicated rules.

The same thing happened with Drew Smith last year.

And Smith, who replaced Diaz on Sunday after the closest player was ejected, said after the game that he never received any clarification from the league as to why he was ejected and suspended last June, and that he has done nothing different since then in terms of it concerns what he puts his hand on before each ride.

To be clear, there are no villains here.

Carapazza believes what he says.

Diaz and Smith believe what they say.

But until MLB finds a better way to handle these situations, ridiculous scenes like the one we witnessed on Sunday night will continue to happen – with the league penalizing players without proof and putting their teams at a significant disadvantage in the process. .