The pitch clock was bound to cause some violations, especially this early in the season. That was no different for Manny Machado, but his situation earned him an ejection.
On Tuesday, with the San Diego Padres facing the Arizona Diamondbacks, Machado was dealing with a 3-2 count in the first inning. His long approach to the batter’s box caused umpire Ron Kulpa to call strike three due to the violation.
He began arguing with the official and was ejected.
Machado spoke about the incident for the first time on Wednesday.
“I had eight seconds to call a timeout, and in eight seconds, he did not give it to me,” Machado told members of the medina on Wednesday. “And I got strucken out, hurt my team, by coming out the game and getting tossed there. I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong, I called eight seconds. The rules are you got to be in there, got to be engaged with the pitcher, if you’re not engaged, you call your timeout and you take your timeout before eight seconds.”
The baseball world had a lot to say about the event, but we knew heading into the season the first month was going to be hit with a lot of violations of the rule that was just implemented this offseason.
“I called it as you can see, and everyone’s seen. My hand was up at eight seconds for my time, and I guess I wasn’t good enough to get awarded for it,” the third baseman added.
While we have a lip-reading video that shows what Machado might have said, he wasn’t going to tell the media the specifics.
It appears the reason Manny Machado was ejected in today's game is because "he called me a douchebag."
Bob Melvin's reaction to the explanation is hilarious. pic.twitter.com/97Tt382oTv
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) April 4, 2023
“Would you like to know,” he said. “That’s between me and him.”
The Diamondbacks went on to defeat the Padres, 8-6, after falling behind four runs by the sixth inning.
About Jessica Kleinschmidt
Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.