Danny Espinosa gets credit for HBP on a strike
Baseball purists couldn’t help but be angered after seeing Danny Espinosa get credit for a hit by pitch on Monday.
The Washington Nationals infielder received his base in the top of the third inning against Kenta Maeda after being hit by a pitch. But replays and a closer look show that the pitch from Maeda was actually a strike, and Espinosa should not have received a base for dipping his elbow down and into the strike zone.
#DannyEspinosa inability to hit will lead @mlb rule change.
HBP w/pitch IN k-zone SHOULD NEVER get a base@pgammo pic.twitter.com/gygAi7ZJDh
— baseballadict (@Bangers2012) October 10, 2016
Danny Espinosa just got "hit" by a strike. pic.twitter.com/VSpSy3bdNQ
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 10, 2016
Luckily for the Dodgers, Jose Lobaton made an out on the next at-bat to end the inning, so the base to Espinosa didn’t completely hurt them during Game 3 of the NLDS. Still, that’s a really bad call by umpire Ron Kulpa.
