Hunt and Peck

UPDATE: Did I say “likely no punishment” because I totally meant just “Punishment likely”... Likely no punishment for Yadier Molina after Sunday’s fracas - A Hunt and Peck

You know the incident.

By lil_scooter93 Updated Apr 10, 2018, 5:14pm EDT

MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals

During Sunday’s game against the Diamondbacks things became heated between Diamondbacks manger Torey Lovullo and home plate umpire Tim Timmons, which then took a surprising turn to involve Yadier Molina. In the middle of his argument with Timmons, Luvullo points towards the Cardinals backstop and from there... this happened:

After the altercation, the only person thrown from the game was the Diamondbacks manager, which drew intrigue from fans and media alike. The fact that Molina was in the game had to have meant that Luvollo said something to him, but what?

After the benches cleared during the Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals game, Yadier Molina and Torey Lovullo spoke to the media (via @FSMidwest) pic.twitter.com/EBISStEHyf
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 9, 2018

Oh. Oh dear.

I am not sure why the Diamondbacks manager called Molina that. Perhaps he was trying to goad Molina into an argument so he would get ejected. Luvollo’s behavior - putting his hands up like he did nothing wrong while still moving towards Molina - after Molina confronted him seems to support that.

I wish Molina could be the type to laugh these sort of things off, because there is something inherently hilarious in Luvollo getting angry at him for, like, just being a good catcher. But he is not and not many folks are. So here we are.

Molina was not ejected from the game, but the incident will be subject to further review. Most sources seem to indicate Molina will not face any further punishment, even though he made contact with an umpire:

Umpires, in comments to pool reporter, seem to tamp down the idea there could be penalties ahead for Yadier Molina. Call contact "incidental." Says that Molina's anger was a "natural reaction" to what was said by Lovullo. Add that will be in their report. #DBacks #stlcards #MLB
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 8, 2018

I am officially closing the book on this story. But I doubt Yadier Molina will. I hope that means he will frame those pitches extra good the next time these two teams face each other.

UPDATE: I am a gigantic liar apparently. Molina has totally been suspended, along with Torey Luvollo. Molina will appeal and is in the lineup for Tuesday (as of now).

This comes as a surprise to the #stlcards, who as of yesterday said that they considered the matter closed and addressed without hearing from #MLB. They thought the umpires' post-game comments implied that. https://t.co/WCD9qVqr6f
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 10, 2018