The "Sticky Checks" Have Begun . . . And Pitchers Are Loving Them

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer was checked three times by the umpires for "sticky stuff" last night. Afterwards, he said: "These are Manfred Rules. Go ask him what he wants to do about this."

Elsewhere, Oakland's Sergio Romo pulled down his pants for one umpire.

Max Scherzer did not seem very pleased while being checked for sticky substances.

(via @DannyVietti) pic.twitter.com/Ev6vkf4zic

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 23, 2021

Umpires decided to inspect Max Scherzer in the middle of an inning and he was NOT happy. @BRWalkoff

(via @NBCSPhilly)pic.twitter.com/40GH9l2Cws

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 23, 2021

Max Scherzer has once again been checked for sticky substance, this time during an inning.

(via @BarnHasSpoken) pic.twitter.com/89dcFj8IcY

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 23, 2021

Phillies manager Joe Girardi and Max Scherzer got into a stare down after Girardi requested umpires check Scherzer for foreign substances for a third time.

Girardi was ejected after the altercation. pic.twitter.com/3B6kGLbudL

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 23, 2021

Oh no. We are roughly one Max Scherzer sticky check away from seeing an umpire get choked out. pic.twitter.com/f6to1AxDLv

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 23, 2021

Max Scherzer and Joe Girardi had a heated exchange after the 5th inning pic.twitter.com/JQIaA6ccna

— OPT (@OnePursuitTakes) June 23, 2021

Sergio Romo saw Max Scherzer almost take his pants off. So he went one step further and did take his pants off. pic.twitter.com/RanZNbbfBG

— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) June 23, 2021

Apparently Sergio Romo also thinks these umpire checks are ridiculous 💀 pic.twitter.com/gHJcXA1rMc

— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) June 23, 2021

* * *

Bauer vs. Manfred vs. the sticky stuff

pic.twitter.com/tSxZ34EjjQ

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 16, 2021

Sticky stuff problem? Don’t know what your talking about! 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/blvkZXf7gP

— Fergie Jenkins (@fergieajenkins) June 15, 2021

MLB: We've got a problem with sticky stuff.

Also MLB: pic.twitter.com/zxpTm5OzcC

— Producer Derrick (@DerrickWilland) June 23, 2021

Charles Barkley gives a shout out to MLB’s crackdown on sticky stuff:

“10 days with pay? Way to stick it to them cheaters 😂” pic.twitter.com/mYgNeL8hdh

— The Baseball Newsletter (@bbletter) June 15, 2021