Ian Kinsler may have insisted that his vulgar outburst following his clutch home run on Thursday night was directed at his San Diego Padres teammates and not the home fans, but manager Andy Green did not appreciate it either way.
Kinsler, who is hitting just .175 this season, threw his arms up in the air and appeared to yell, “F— you! F— all of you!” after his three-run homer gave the Padres a 4-2 lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth inning. He claimed the gesture was an “inside thing” that was directed at his teammates, but it sure looks like he was motioning to the crowd.
Ian Kinsler told his own fanbase tonight to “go f*** themselves” after homering. pic.twitter.com/yMKRDrmM2C
— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) May 17, 2019
As far as Green is concerned, it doesn’t matter. During an appearance on 97.3 The Fan Friday morning, Green said he spoke with Kinsler and told him “that’s not the appearance we want as an organization.”
“It’s just not a good message for us. We’ve had conversations with Ian, and I think we’ve all had the opportunity to reflect overnight,” Green said. “He is an emotional baseball player. He’s a passionate baseball player. He’s been a winning baseball player his entire life, but for us as an organization, clearly not the message we want to convey no matter who it’s intended to. I think we’ll go forward, and move on, and accept responsibility for what’s happened, and move forward as a team.”
Green would not say whether or not Kinsler will be disciplined by the team, but it seems unlikely.
Kinsler has heard some boos from the home fans in San Diego this season, which makes sense given his .175 average and .233 on-base percentage. The 36-year-old clearly feels he has something to prove with the way fans have treated him and his own Alexa device trash talking him before the season, but the way he handled it on Thursday was a bad look.
