Tempers flared in Chicago Monday night thanks to a home-plate collision, with Chicago Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo crashing into Padres’ catcher Austin Hedges after trying to score on a fly ball to center field. Center fielder Matt Szczur made a great throw and Hedges hung on after the collision, so Rizzo was called out to seal the double play. However, Hedges left the game with a bruised thigh, and San Diego manager Andy Green was ticked off about this afterwards. Here’s video of the play:
And here’s Green’s reaction:
Andy Green says Anthony Rizzo's slide was a 'cheap shot' pic.twitter.com/H1IEcqLRF4
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) June 20, 2017
With a transcript:
More Andy Green: pic.twitter.com/uv7R9bxvz1
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) June 20, 2017
Meanwhile, former Padres’ outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. chimed in on Twitter:
If Rizzo gets hit his next AB, it should be all good. He completely went out of his way to run into Hedges! #Padres
— Tony Gwynn Jr. (@tonygwynnjr) June 20, 2017
There haven’t been as many of these home-plate collisions since the 2014 institution of rule 7.13, which prohibited catchers from blocking the plate without the ball and stopped runners from crashing into catchers if it was avoidable. As CBS’ Matt Snyder wrote, though, the collision itself doesn’t mean that Rizzo was in the wrong
Right off the bat, let’s dispel this myth that collisions are banned. They aren’t. The rule was just given some shark-strong teeth as to when a player is allowed to clean the catcher’s clock.
…A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate), or otherwise initiate an avoidable collision.
…So the question here is whether or not Rizzo went straight toward home plate as well as if Hedges gave him a path to home plate without fully blocking it.
The first part is pretty easy. I don’t have any idea how anyone watching that replay could honestly say Rizzo deviated from his path.
The second part is the point of discussion and argument.
Was Hedges fully blocking the plate when Rizzo had to decide whether or not to slide or plow into him?
It’s as simple as that. Pick a side on that one and you’ll have your answer.
Regardless of whether or not Rizzo was right or wrong, though, the Padres are certainly mad about it. And that may lead to some fireworks later in this series. The Cubs won 3-2 Monday, but the teams play Tuesday and Wednesday as well. We’ll see if any tempers flare during those games.
