MLB pitchers have funny responses to unwritten rules controversy
Chicago White Sox slugger Yermin Mercedes violated one of baseball’s unwritten rules on Monday night when he belted a home run late in his team’s 16-4 win. His own manager was unhappy with him over it, but there are plenty of players who had no problem with Mercedes swinging away — even pitchers.
The White Sox scored 14 runs in the first six innings en route to blowing out the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota had utility player Willians Astudillo pitch the final half-inning of the game, and Mercedes crushed a 3-0 home run off of him. La Russa said Tuesday that he understood why the Twins were upset and that Mercedes would face consequences.
New York Mets pitcher Trevor May did not see what all the fuss was about. He sent a sarcastic tweet saying hitters should just sit back and allow pitchers to get back in the count.
I think hitter should never swing 3-0 and always let us back in the count.
— Trevor “IamTrevorMay” May (@IamTrevorMay) May 19, 2021
Alex Wood, a veteran pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, agreed. He said all “rules” go out the window when a team sends a position player out to the mound.
I think hitter should never swing 3-0 and always let us back in the count.
— Trevor “IamTrevorMay” May (@IamTrevorMay) May 19, 2021
The Twins threw behind Mercedes on Tuesday because of the stunt (video here), so you know they didn’t appreciate it. Many would argue that you should never stop playing hard, but apparently not everyone agrees.
