New York Mets Relievers Caught With Sticky Hands

NEW YORK - There wasn't just one set of sticky hands.

New York Mets relief pitcher Drew Smith was ejected, and later suspended, because his hands were deemed to sticky on Tuesday night.

But Smith wasn't the only reliever on the Mets, who apparently had sticky hands, as David Robertson was also told his were too sticky by the umpiring crew. However, Robertson did not get thrown out of the game, like Smith.

“He felt like my hands were sticky,” Robertson told Newsday’s Tim Healey on Wednesday. “And I told him that his hands felt sticky. I said, I have absolutely nothing on me. I’ve done nothing but grab the rosin bag.”

According to Robertson, this conversation with home plate umpire Bill Miller occurred following his scoreless inning in the ninth. Robertson told Miller he had nothing on his body that MLB didn't give him.

“The fact that I was even told that [my hand was sticky] was shocking,” Robertson added.

The Mets are the only team in baseball this season to have multiple pitchers ejected and suspended for sticky substances. Ace pitcher Max Scherzer was tossed in mid-April and suspended for 10-games for using sticky substances against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball announced that Smith would be suspended and fined for getting ejected for sticky substances on Tuesday. Smith will not appeal this suspension, which means the Mets will be a man short for the next 10 days. He is eligible to return on June 26.

Oddly enough, the Mets also had two minor league pitchers get ejected for sticky substances this season as well.