Caleb Smith ejected after his glove was confiscated during foreign substance check

It’s been a bizarre Wednesday night on the foreign substance crackdown front in Major League Baseball (and a very wild night in general, with Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman doing special things).

First, Chicago White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn was ejected during a foreign substance check after tossing his belt toward an umpire. And later in the night, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Caleb Smith was ejected after umpires believed to actually identify a foreign substance.

After pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief for the Diamondbacks against the Philadelphia Phillies, umpires confiscated the glove of Smith during a foreign substance check in the eighth inning. Smith was livid at the decision and had to be held back by Arizona coaches.

As Bally Sports Arizona’s Steve Berthiaume said in the clip, any pitcher caught using a foreign substance will be ejected — as Smith was — and faces a 10-game suspension. Seattle Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago has been the only pitcher to face a 10-game suspension thus far, after getting caught with a foreign substance on June 27.

Smith denied using a foreign substance, according to the USA Today’s Bob Nightengale: “I’m not stupid. I know the two main things they check is your glove and your hat. If I was using something, and I wasn’t, I wouldn’t put it on my glove or my hat; that’s ignorant.”

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo doesn’t believe Smith was using a foreign substance. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports that Lovullo said Smith’s hand was “bone dry,” and that Lovullo added, “I believe my player. I stand by my player.”

However, according to Nightengale, Lovullo did acknowledge that there were a couple of “hot spots” on Smith’s glove.

Smith, 30, has a 5.12 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched (13 starts) for Arizona this season.

The Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 4-2.

[Photo Credit: Bally Sports Arizona]