Cubs pitcher breaks his hand from punching wall

Sep 14, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs batting helmet sits on the dugout rail before the Cubs play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

A Chicago Cubs pitcher apparently Zach Plesac’d himself this week.

Cubs reliever Colten Brewer revealed to reporters on Sunday that he broke his hand by punching a wall in the dugout in frustration after a bad outing on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels.

“When [Cubs manager Craig Counsell] took me out of the game yesterday, I paced in the dugout a couple of times and my frustration got the best of me,” said Brewer, according to Cubs reporter Tony Andracki. “[I] just let a couple of punches into the wall. My intention wasn’t to break my hand. We all get frustrated and make mistakes and that’s no excuse.

“Emotions just get the best of us sometimes,” he added. “Letting my family down, friends, teammates, people of Wrigleyville. It’s kind of heartbreaking to me right now. There’s no pain in [my hand] right now. [But] I can’t believe something like that happened.”

Brewer, who has since been placed on the 60-day injured list, indeed had an ugly afternoon in a 7-0 loss to the Angels on Saturday. He entered the game in the third inning after starter Kyle Hendricks had to exit with lower back tightness. Brewer then gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, only managing to get two outs before being pulled by Counsell for Jorge Lopez.

The 31-year-old right-hander Brewer is in his sixth career MLB season and recently returned from a 2023 stint with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. With this self-inflicted injury though, Brewer now joins a surprisingly lengthy list of MLB pitchers who have gone up against a wall and lost (including one who already did so earlier this season).