Tempers flared and plenty of words were exchanged during Sunday’s game between the Royals and Blue Jays. Edinson Volquez and Josh Donaldson were squarely in the middle of it.
In the first inning, Volquez hit Donaldson with a pitch, which did not sit well with the Jays third baseman and he let Volquez know about it on the way to first base. In the third inning, a pitch from Volquez sailed up and in towards the head area of Donaldson, causing him to duck out of the way. The two again had words for each other. In the seventh inning, Ryan Madson threw a pitch that once again caused Donaldson to back out of the way.
Needless to say, Donaldson wasn’t pleased with Kansas City’s insistence on pitching inside. Madson hit Tulowitzki in the seventh, prior to backing Donaldson off the plate. John Gibbons was ejected for trying to defend his players. However, after the game, Volquez thought Donaldson was overreacting.
“He’s a little baby,” Volquez said via The Kansas City Star. “He was crying like a baby.”
“He got mad at everybody like he’s Barry Bonds,” Volquez continued. “He’s not Barry Bonds. He’s got three years in the league. We’ve been around longer than he has.”
After Donaldson was hit in the first inning, home plate umpire Jim Wolf issued warnings to both teams. Apparently, Madson felt Donaldson misinterpreted what that meant.
“For him to get upset, I don’t think he fully understands the game, or he just let his emotions get the best of him,” Madson said. “He thought that a warning means you can’t throw inside.”
Donaldson may have been demonstrative with his reactions to what Royals pitchers were doing, but it’s unlikely many players would’ve responded differently in the same situation. We’ve seen what can happen when baseballs end up around the head area and, intentional or not, batters generally don’t take too kindly to it, especially after multiple times. That said, the Royals defended their strategy of pitching inside so don’t expect Sunday’s events to change what they do anytime soon.
