Will Smith suspended eight games by MLB for foreign substance on his arm

Major League Baseball acted quickly in handing down punishment to Will Smith, the Milwaukee Brewers pitcher ejected Thursday night after a foreign substance was found on his arm.

The league announced an eight-game suspension for Smith, who plans to appeal. Here's the MLB announcement:

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Will Smith has received an eight-game suspension for having a foreign substance on his arm during the bottom of the seventh inning of his Club’s Thursday, May 21st game against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Joe Garagiola Jr., Senior Vice President of Standards & On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.

Smith’s suspension had been scheduled to begin tonight, when the Brewers are to continue their series at Atlanta. However, he has elected to file an appeal. Thus, the discipline issued to him will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

After the game Thursday night, Smith admitted that he had a mixture of sunscreen and rosin on his arm. That's in violation of MLB's rules, however it's not a particularly uncommon way for pitchers to get a better grip on the ball. Smith told reporters he had it on his arm in the bullpen, but forgot to clean it off when he took the mound.

We've seen Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz in the center of controversy for using what was believed to be sunscreen. The league and its umpires usually don't act on such foreign substances unless the opposing team lodges a complaint, which Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzales did Thursday night against Smith.

Depending who you talk to and how much they're into the "unwritten rules" of baseball, complaining about this might be out-of-line. Generally, it only happens when a pitcher is egregiously using a foreign substance (see: Pineda, Michael) and forces the opposing manager to act.

Even Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman illustrated the careful dance around this topic with this post-game quote from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"Every pitcher does it. As a hitter you want them to do it so they have a better grip, so we don’t get hit in the head. But just hide it better next time.”

The message there: Baseball players are fine with a little bit of rule-breaking, but don't rub it in their face. You have to wonder how that defense would fly in Smith's appeal. Or in the NFL, for that matter.