Mets left ‘angry’ over puzzling Drew Smith ejection for sticky stuff, implore MLB to use spin rates

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New York Mets relief pitcher Drew Smith argues with umpire Bill Miller, right, as manager Buck Showalter, left, watches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

QUEENS — Drew Smith became the second Mets pitcher this season to be ejected for failing a sticky substance check after crew chief Bill Miller deemed that both his left and right hands were deemed too tacky to come in from the bullpen in the seventh inning of New York’s 7-6 loss to the crosstown-rival Yankees on Tuesday night at Citi Field. 

“I didn’t think they were sticky,” Smith said. “I mean, obviously, they do. I’m not sure if they’re going to come out with the statement saying something similar to [Max Scherzer’s ejection and suspension] like, ‘stickiest hands ever’ or whatnot. But my hands weren’t sticky and I had everybody check them as I was coming off the field.

“The MLB guy, in the tunnel, I kind of forced him to feel my hands… and he actually laughed and said there was nothing there. So really, what else is there to do?”

The 29-year-old right-handed reliever implored that he hadn’t changed anything in terms of his preparation for the outing against the Yankees or the amount of rosin that was used. Yet Miller and his crew told him that both his hands were too sticky — but they didn’t say anything about his glove.

“It doesn’t really make much sense to me because if my left hand was sticky, I feel like my glove would be sticky as well,” Smith said. “So there’s just a lot about the explanation and the process that I didn’t really agree with or understand.”

What has left Smith and the Mets so mystified by Tuesday night’s decision is the lack of consistency that is continuously being shown by MLB umpires on the issue. What has been…