When Major League Baseball trained its umpires to improve the application of sticky substances, it conducted a test, according to league sources. Several people were queuing up, with substances applied to their hands.
Some of the test cases used Spider Tack, others sweat and rosin, others pine tar, and so on, without saying which was which. The instructions were simple: if the hand was sticky, an ejection was necessary.
“It actually wasn’t difficult,” said one person who participated.
The standard for ejection is actually quite simple as the Mets approach Edwin Diaz I found out on Sunday night in Chicago: sticky means ejection.
In MLB rules, there is no such thing as “too sticky.” It’s binary, yes or no.
To be fair to pitchers, the bigger issue of grip is much more complex. Many say unofficially that the need to hold the ball tighter, without substance, is the biggest factor in the series of injuries, much more than the field clock.
But that’s a valid discussion for another day. Under current rules, Diaz’s violation was clear.
He claimed he only used resin and sweat, but the team leader Vic Carapazza told a pool reporter: “It was definitely not resin and sweat. We’ve checked thousands of them. I know what that feeling is. That was very sticky.
Second base umpire Brian Walsh, that ejected Diaz, has never before emitted an ejection of sticky material. Across MLB, there have been just eight ejections of sticky substances since increased enforcement began in 2021, and two this season.
Referees are not enthusiastic in their search for violations. But sticky is sticky and can’t be ignored. When an expulsion occurs, the violation is flagrant.
In some cases, the pitchers – the Yankees Clark Schmidt Last year comes to mind – we were allowed to wash our hands. But according to a person with direct knowledge of these incidents, this option arises when the hand or glove is discolored but not sticky, or sticky without being sticky (the difference between sticky and sticky during the referee training process was clear; this is not It’s a gray area).
Last season, according to a league source, MLB instructed umpires to randomize inspections because its standards had become too predictable. As a result, all six ejections of sticky material in 2023 and 2024 occurred when the pitcher entered the field, rather than when he was leaving it at the end of an inning.
Diaz is beloved around the club and in the game, but his violation puts the Mets in a difficult situation. He will be suspended for 10 games and the coach Carlos Mendoza will have to go through a crucial period of the season not only without their star closer, but also without a pitcher on their team.
Lineup decisions will also be complicated. It’s possible, for example, that the Mets will have to consider the option David Peterson to Triple-A after his start Tuesday in order to get a fresh arm for a depleted bullpen.
Otherwise, other lineup challenges will present themselves as the team tries to navigate life through 10 games with one less pitcher.
