Drew Smith has become the third MLB pitcher this season, and the second on the Mets, to be assessed an automatic 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.
Smith, who was ejected by umpire Bill Miller before throwing a pitch in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees, did not appeal the ban.
It started with the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Yankees in Wednesday’s Subway Series finale, leaving the Mets one arm short in the bullpen.
Starting pitcher Max Scherzer did not appeal the 10-game suspension he received after being tossed from the Mets’ game on April 19 in Los Angeles.
Yankees righty Domingo German also missed 10 games for being caught in MLB’s sticky-stuff crackdown in May.
Smith did not speak to reporters before Wednesday’s announcement was made, but he said after departing Tuesday’s game that an MLB official laughed after touching his hands and told him following his ejection “there was nothing there.”
Umpire Bill Miller tossed Smith after a sticky-stuff check. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostSmith also contended he used the same amount of rosin as he typically did earlier this season, and that no other umpiring crew found him to be in violation of the policy.
“My hands weren’t sticky,” Smith said. “The process is so arbitrary. It can change from one crew to the other. I think that’s the main issue. It just sucks for the team not having a guy for 10 days.”
Miller told a pool reporter after Tuesday’s game that the 29-year-old Smith had the stickiest hands of any pitcher his crew had checked this season.
Drew Smith opted not to appeal the automatic ban that came with his Tuesday night ejection. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“I had all three of my members touch the hands, and they felt the same way,” Miller added.
Mets manager Buck Showalter said before the announcement was made by MLB senior vice president on-field operations Michael Hill that the Mets expected Smith to be suspended “because that is the protocol.”
“We’re operating that that’s gonna happen,” Showalter said. “Obviously, it’s a 12-day [suspension], not 10, because you don’t get credit for the off-days. But if you’re gonna have it, you’d rather have the off days in there to withstand the taxation, the taxing part of it, on your bullpen.
“That’s why you get penalized, to make it hurt. … It makes you start thinking that you want to make sure you aren’t doing more than is allowed.”
The Mets organization also have had the only two pitchers suspended at the Triple-A level earlier this season, Syracuse hurlers Dylan Bundy and Eric Orze.
Asked about having four of the five pitchers in Triple-A and the majors to have received suspensions this season, Showalter added, “[A teacher] taught me algebra. I can do that math, do the percentages. So yeah, that’s one of the questions I asked [in a conference call with MLB officials].”
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“I tend to believe people. I tend to believe Drew and I tend to believe [Miller],” Showalter said. “Paranoia can set in, but I also try to be alert to things that just don’t quite feel right. I don’t try to get into conspiracy theories. But… I’m also alert to something, that if you do the math, I look in the mirror and say, ‘Are we doing something wrong that we can fix?’ ”
In addition to Wednesday’s game, Smith will miss the Mets’ next three series against the Cardinals, Astros and Phillies.
The righty reliever has posted a 4.18 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 23 ²/₃ innings over 26 relief appearances this season, two behind Adam Ottavino for the team lead.
