Yankees Pitcher Clarke Schmidt Undergoes Foreign Substance Check, Reds Manager Ejected

On Friday night, the New York Yankees’ starting pitcher, Clarke Schmidt, was subjected to a foreign substance check during their game against the Cincinnati Reds. While the umpires allowed Schmidt to continue playing, Reds manager David Bell was not pleased with the decision and was ejected from the game.

Schmidt shared that when he went out for the fifth inning, the third-base umpire checked him. The umpire checked his hands and confirmed they were clean. However, when the umpire checked the back of his wrist, he discovered a black fur inside the glove. Schmidt explained that throughout the game, sweating and rosin had built up on the back of his wrist, where the fur was present.

After Schmidt cleaned off his wrist, the umpires allowed him to continue on the mound, which led to Bell’s dispute. Crew chief Brian O’Nora shared that Bell was upset that Schmidt was not ejected and only asked to clean off his wrist. O’Nora explained the situation to Bell, but he continued to argue and was eventually ejected from the game.

This is the second time this season an opposing manager was ejected after a foreign substance check on a Yankees pitcher. On April 15, Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected when Domingo German was allowed to continue playing. German was later suspended for ten games and fined for violating the league’s prohibition of foreign substances on the mound.

Schmidt shared that he understands the league’s hypersensitivity towards foreign substances and has nothing to hide.

The Yankees ended up winning the game 6-2, with Aaron Judge hitting his seventh home run in as many games. Judge’s home run was the only hit he had that night, but he has homered in five of the past seven games. Schmidt praised Judge’s performance and warns other teams to watch out when he catches hot like this.

Anthony Rizzo also contributed to the Yankees’ win, scoring his 10th homer of the season in the sixth inning to make it 3-0. Jake Fraley drove in two runs in the sixth to narrow the score to 3-2, but the Yankees added three more runs in the ninth inning, including a two-run double by Kyle Higashioka.