Max Scherzer Starts To Strip On The Field As Baseball’s Weirdest New Rule Kicks In

Major League Baseball’s newest rule has already ticked off at least one superstar player. 

Under the rule, umpires check each starting pitcher at least once a game for sticky substances used to doctor the baseball. 

And Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ― a three-time Cy Young winner ― didn’t look thrilled when it was his turn: 

ESPN notes that umps will inspect the hats, gloves and belts during these routine checks but could also look elsewhere if they have cause for suspicion.  

Opposing managers are also allowed to ask umps to check the pitcher, and Phillies manager Joe Girardi took advantage of that later in the game to demand another examination in the middle of an inning. 

A clearly frustrated Scherzer tossed his glove, his cap and unbuckled his pants as the umps approached in what looked like the start of a mock striptease: 

Scherzer had eight strikeouts over five innings of work. 

While pitchers have long used sticky substances to grip the ball, more recent players allegedly have been using far tackier compounds that the MLB argues has changed the nature of the game and given them an unfair advantage. 

“This should be the biggest scandal in sports,” an unnamed major league team executive told Sports Illustrated in its lengthy report on doctored baseballs.

Under the new rule, pitchers caught cheating will be suspended for 10 games. 

Baseball America notes that this season has seen more strikeouts, fewer balls in play and “some of the lowest batting averages in history.”