Orioles' Matusz ejected for foreign substance
Brian Matusz has been caught red-handed. (MLB.tv)
For the second time this week, we’ve seen a relief pitcher ejected for having a so-called “foreign substance” on his arm. This time around it was Marlins manager Dan Jennings who requested Orioles reliever Brian Matusz‘s arm be checked out. Once the umpires had a look, Matusz was ejected from the game.
The moving pictures:
Matusz took a different route than Brewers reliever Will Smith, who went with the old “everyone does it” excuse (and he’s not wrong, by the way). Here’s Matusz:
Matusz: “I have my own personal opinions about the issue but right now with emotions running high we’re going to let this settle and…”
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) May 24, 2015
“…address questions at a later time.”
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) May 24, 2015
Just as I mentioned earlier this week on the Smith situation, the overwhelming majority of pitchers use some extra stuff to get a better grip. So long as they aren’t doctoring the baseball, most opposing players don’t have an issue with it — Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman even went as far as to say he wanted pitchers to have better grips. It is against the rules, though, so a suspension will surely be in order for Matusz.
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