St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras accidentally made contact with hitting instructor Brant Brown via his baseball bat after being removed from Monday evening’s victory versus the Pittsburgh Pirates (box score). Contreras, who was ejected in the seventh inning following a disagreement concerning called balls and strikes, seemed to propel his bat in the direction of first-base umpire Stu Scheurwater, who had stepped in to alleviate the situation. However, the bat made contact with Brown on his upper torso.
Contreras then threw a container of treats onto the playing surface after retreating to the team’s dugout. Observe:
Whether Contreras will be subjected to disciplinary measures from the MLB remains to be determined. It would not be shocking if he were, considering his perceived motive. According to Jordan Baker, the crew leader, who spoke with Jeff Jones from the Belleville News-Democrat, Contreras was removed for using “offensive” terminology and for physical contact with an umpire—an infraction in the league’s rulebook. Contreras refuted the latter accusation, asserting that he simply requested consistent strike-zone judgments for both participating teams.
The specific pitch that provoked Contreras’s disapproval was a 0-2 delivery thrown by Pirates’ right-handed pitcher, Yohan Ramírez. Derek Thomas, the home-plate umpire, ruled Contreras out on strikes, a decision that was justified given that the pitch had a striking probability of 87.5%, as per the data provided by TruMedia. It’s possible that Contreras was angered at himself or another ruling that happened when he was catching. Regardless, none of the calls made against him as a batter on Monday were truly unjustifiable.
Contreras, aged 33, went into Monday’s game showing a batting average of .261, an on-base percentage of .345, and a slugging percentage of .460 (125 OPS+), along with 19 home runs and 70 RBIs over 120 games. His overall input was approximated to be worth 2.3 Wins Above Replacement, based on the metrics available at Baseball Reference.
It’s notable that Contreras is not the only player associated with an occurrence involving a thrown bat in the previous couple of weeks. Victor Robles, a Seattle Mariners outfielder, faced a suspension of 10 games after throwing his bat toward a pitcher during a rehabilitation game. Robles, who must fulfill his suspension time within the major league, has received permission to keep playing pending the outcome of his challenge against the sanction.
