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St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras inadvertently struck hitting coach Brant Brown with his bat after being ejected from Monday night’s win against the Pittsburgh Pirates (box score). Contreras, who was tossed during the bottom of the seventh inning after arguing balls and strikes, appeared to toss his bat toward first-base umpire Stu Scheurwater, who had intervened in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Instead, it struck Brown on the upper body.
Contreras would later throw a bucket of treats on the field after heading into the dugout. Take a look:
It’s to be seen if Contreras will face punishment from Major League Baseball. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he does, though, given his seeming intent. Crew chief Jordan Baker told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat that Contreras was ejected for using “vulgar” language and that he made contact with an ump — a no-no in the league’s eyes. Contreras denied that second part, and claimed that he simply requested the same strike-zone calls for both teams.
The pitch that Contreras took issue with was an 0-2 offering from Pirates right-hander Yohan Ramírez. Home-plate umpire Derek Thomas rung up Contreras, and rightly so: said pitch had a called strike probability of 87.5%, according to TruMedia’s calculations. Perhaps Contreras was steamed at himself or at another call that happened while he was behind the dish. Whatever the case, none of the calls that went against him as a hitter on Monday were egregious.
Contreras, 33, entered Monday hitting .261/.345/.460 (125 OPS+) with 19 home runs and 70 runs batted in over the course of 120 games. His contributions were estimated to have been worth 2.3 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations hosted at Baseball Reference.
It’s worth noting that Contreras is the second player entangled in a bat-throwing incident in the past two weeks. Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles was suspended for 10 games after throwing his bat at a pitcher during a rehab game. Robles, who must serve his banishment at the big-league level, has been allowed to continue to play while he appeals his punishment.