Red Sox: Thoughts on the weekend’s events
The big news over the weekend in baseball has been this whole debacle between Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado.
First of all, bad blood between the Red Sox and Orioles is nothing new. David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg went at it a few years back, and earlier this season O’s manager Buck Showalter was taking shots at the way the Red Sox publicized the team battle with the flu. So this should come as a surprise to nobody, but then again, nobody could’ve predicted all this to happen over the weekend.
Machado’s Slide
Let me say this to get it out of the way and so you can read this with a better understanding of my personal opinions and consider it as you choose: I CAN’T STAND MANNY MACHADO! I think he’s a dirty player and the biggest crybaby in baseball. I felt this way before any of this transpired.
Charging the mound is one thing, attempting to throw a bat at a pitcher is life threatening and throwing a helmet at a player because he tagged you too hard is one of the most childish things I’ve ever seen at the major league level.
So once I saw Machado go into 2nd the way he did, it didn’t shock me. He had a questionable slide last season on Xander Bogaerts and this one was even worse.
At first glance, it looked like the bag forced Machado’s foot to come up, but if you slow it down and watch it, he went spikes up straight into Dustin Pedroia’s knee. It’s a dangerous play, slide rule or not, that has never been tolerated in baseball, and you should be expecting a pitch square in the back after you pull something like that.
That being said, I don’t think Machado went in with the intent to injure Pedroia, but that doesn’t mean the slide wasn’t dirty. He went spikes up into Pedroia’s knee, past the bag. Rule or not it’s just a dirty play.
Pedroia’s Injury and Reaction
This one is going to hurt us. Pedey has gotten off to a very average start and getting him going will be huge in the lineup. Say what you will about Betts’ or Ortiz’s outstanding seasons, but the Red Sox didn’t become dominant last year until Dustin Pedroia was batting leadoff. Check out his splits from when he was batting first.
However, Marco Hernandez is a good backup, and Xander Bogaerts in the leadoff spot will work out just fine. So it won’t ravage the lineup but it will certainly hurt.
Pedroia’s public reaction to this whole situation was pretty interesting. He never said anything negative about Machado to the media, but you could tell he was pissed.
Then today we saw the outward display against Machado. After Matt Barnes threw behind Machado, he pointed at his head and looked at Pedroia in the dugout.
Pedroia then looked right at Machado and goes, “if it was up to me I would’ve hit you the first day”. So clearly Pedroia has some hard feelings about Machado’s slide.
Dustin is an absolute gamer and I think he’s more upset about the fact that he’s sidelined rather than at Machado. With that being said, if I’m wrong and Pedroia’s more upset at Machado directly, I completely understand where he’s coming from.
Barnes Throwing at Machado
I love the idea, hate the execution. I don’t care who it is, you do not throw up near a guy’s head on purpose, period. You’re talking about someone’s career when you do that. Not only physically, but even more so psychologically.
After getting hit by a 95 mph fastball in the head, you may not be able to stand in the batter’s box with confidence ever again. Baseball players at every level have quit baseball simply because they can’t get over that traumatic experience of getting hit in the head. Nobody wants that.
Matt Barnes should’ve hit Machado in the butt, Machado probably would’ve said something because he’s a cry baby, but that would’ve been the end of it. I’m only half slapping Barnes on the wrist because I have a lot of respect for him stepping up and being the guy to drill Machado. But again, you’ve gotta get the ball down.
That being said, I’m glad Eduardo Rodriguez was not the guy to step up and bean Machado. He surely would’ve gotten a warning or would’ve been ejected. In the case of a warning, the next guy he hits would be an ejection and E-Rod basically would not have been able to throw inside for the rest of the game. So very smart move by E-Rod not to hit Machado.
In conclusion, a pretty crazy and unfortunate situation that unfolded this weekend. I’m really upset about Pedroia but love the way he handled the whole situation. He got his message across when he spoke with the media, but wouldn’t roll over when Machado called him out.
This surely won’t be the last we hear of Manny Machado’s childish and cry baby actions. Every year mainstream media members run to his defense and say that he’s changed and isn’t a hot head any longer. Evidenced from this weekend he still hasn’t grown up.
Next: Red Sox 6 - Orioles 2: Tempers Flare in Series Finale
Dustin Pedroia will be undergoing an MRI tomorrow to see if there’s any structural damage to his left knee of ankle.