Jason Heyward, Matt Kemp not playing in their MLB games

Jason Heyward and Matt Kemp are among the MLB players who decided not to play on Wednesday in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. The other four teams NBA teams that were scheduled to play on Wednesday also decided to boycott. From there, the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds decided not to play on Wednesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants joined in, as did the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres.

Two players whose teams were set to play decided they would not be participating. Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Kemp gave the following statement on Instagram for his reason.

View this post on Instagram

Tonight I stand with my fellow professional athletes in protest of the injustices my people continue to suffer. I could not play this game I love so much tonight knowing the hurt and anguish my people continue to feel. In a world where we are the ones who need to remain calm while a trained professional points a gun in our face; a world where the people in uniforms who took an oath to protect us are the same ones killing us; a world where we become hashtags before we even reach our potential; we must stand together, speak out, protest, and be the change we demand, require, and need so bad. To the families who have experienced these tragedies first hand my heart breaks for you, my prayers are with you and I use my platform to speak on your behalf. I will be protesting tonight’s game in honor of all of my fallen brothers and sisters at the hands of police brutality. #BLM #JacobBlake #BreonnaTaylor #GeorgeFloyd #Saytheirnames

A post shared by Matt Kemp (@therealmattkemp) on Aug 26, 2020 at 4:13pm PDT

Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward also declined to play in response to the shooting.

If it's accurate that Jason Heyward is sitting out tonight's game as a protest of the Jason Blake shooting, I'm frankly surprised, and a little disappointed, his #Cubs teammates aren't sitting out with him.

— James Neveau (@JamesNeveau) August 26, 2020

Heyward’s Cubs played against the Detroit Tigers without him in the lineup.