Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer jokingly called for Philadelphia Phillies’ right fielder Bryce Harper to have his hair checked for sticky substances.
Pitchers and umpires weren’t exactly chill when regular checks for sticky substances started this week.
So it’s nice to see Max Scherzer already laughing and joking about a ridiculous situation from his start against the Phillies.
On Wednesday, as the series between Washington and Philadelphia continued, Scherzer jokingly pointed for the umpires to make sure Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper wasn’t hiding sticky substances in his hair.
Everyone had a laugh, unlike the day before when things got downright testy between Scherzer and Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Max Scherzer had fun with Bryce Harper over sticky substances in hair
Scherzer was irate as he got checked multiple times during the outing for substances on his glove and hat. When Girardi raised concerns about how often he was touching his hair, the umpires even ran their fingers through Scherzer’s sweaty locks.
Harper has a much fuller head of hair than Scherzer, so there’d definitely be more places to hide some extra sticky hair gel.
Girardi ended up being ejected on Tuesday when he left the dugout to confront Scherzer and the Nationals staff after a staredown from the pitcher. It’s doubtful he would want his own pitcher to endure the same degree of checks Scherzer was put through, but gamesmanship is gamesmanship.
Scherzer got the win with five innings of action, giving up just two hits while striking out eight.
This is a big series for the Nationals and Phillies. Both sit at 34-36 with an identical winning percentage as the Braves. While New York controls the NL East, the race for second place is wide open.
Washington is on a hot streak, winning eight of their last nine games. Philadelphia has lost five of their last seven.