MLB Network had one slip past the censors on Thursday night.
During Thursday’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga., an obscene photo featuring Reds All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz made it onto the air. As part of a mid-inning segment on De La Cruz, the broadcast noted that he had a twin brother named Pedro and aired a couple of photos of the two.
Unfortunately, it appears no one noticed that Pedro De La Cruz was throwing up an obscene gesture in one of those photos — a middle finger. Here is the video.
The actual broadcast here was the Braves’ home telecast on FanDuel Sports Network. But it was also being simulcast on MLB Network, so the gaffe ended up getting twice the exposure.
Notably, MLB also posted the segment on its official X page … but with the offending photo totally cropped out.
On its own, the mini-segment was supposed to be a nice, humorous piece on how the 6-foot-5 De La Cruz has a twin brother who is somehow nearly a foot shorter than him. But thanks to an apparent lack of oversight, that is not what anybody will remember about the segment.
De La Cruz has been slightly less flashy so far this season with five home runs, 25 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases on a .265 batting average through 38 games. On top of that, De La Cruz has now found himself at the center of the worst baseball broadcast blunder since this one from a few years ago.
