Mets' Drew Smith maintains innocence following sticky-stuff suspension

New York Mets relief pitcher Drew Smith insists he did nothing wrong related to his "sticky-stuff" ejection and a subsequent suspension. 

"That’s the hard thing," Smith said following the Mets' 7-6 loss at the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon that featured a meltdown from the visitors, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. "It was hot that day, like today, and it’s humid and right now my hand is tacky, just from playing catch with the rosin. Once it’s hotter, if you use the [rosin] bag, you could be in trouble." 

Like Mets co-ace Max Scherzer earlier in the spring, Smith said he used only sweat and league-approved rosin ahead of taking the bump to face the New York Yankees on June 13. Smith nevertheless was tossed before he threw a meaningful pitch because crew chief Bill Miller deemed that the 29-year-old's hands were too sticky, but the right-hander later claimed an MLB official checked and "said there was nothing there" worthy of an ejection. 

Smith received a 10-game suspension and an undisclosed fine. He is eligible to pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night. 

"He was in the same boat as me and said his first couple of outings back, he was wary of it," Smith said about Scherzer missing action this season due to a suspension. "He just said to be more careful in the bullpen and maybe don’t pick up the rosin as much." 

Smith added he "wasn’t doing anything wrong in the first place" but will "have to be more conscious" about his future warm-up routines, especially since Mets manager Buck Showalter suggested that umpires are thoroughly checking his pitchers for whatever reasons this season. Similar to Showalter, Smith mentioned how a pair of Triple-A Syracuse Mets pitchers were also thrown out of games in May. 

"It might have just been bad luck that it happened to me, but four of the five guys that have gotten [suspended] this year have been from our organization," Smith remarked. 

The 35-42 Mets cannot endure many more avoidable setbacks if they want to have any hope of turning things around during the second half of the campaign. Fourth-place New York began Monday trailing the first-place Atlanta Braves by 15 games in the National League East standings and sat eight games back in the race for a wild-card spot at that time.