Umpire says Rizzo got hit by the pitch on purpose, a breakdown

Name: Umpire says Rizzo got hit by the pitch on purpose, a breakdown
Description: Jomboy breakdown: Umpire says Rizzo got hit by the pitch on purpose, a breakdown

MLB

What Happened

Anthony Rizzo steps up to the plate for the New York Yankees in the bottom of the ninth inning, with his team trailing by one run. The Yankees are struggling as of late, but Rizzo is known for his fearless approach at the plate, standing extremely close to the plate to take away the inside part of the strike zone from opposing pitchers. Yarbrough of the Tampa Bay Rays delivers the 1-1 pitch, a fastball that tails in on Rizzo. The ball appears to hit Rizzo, who does not attempt to get out of the way, and instead adjusts his stance and digs a new hole in the batter's box. The home plate umpire immediately rules that Rizzo did not make a genuine effort to avoid the pitch, and does not award him first base. Rizzo argues vehemently with the umpire, saying "No f***ing way, DJ, I'm on the f***ing plate. That's f***ing bulls*** and you know it. Come on." Yankees manager Aaron Boone comes out to discuss the ruling with the umpire, who explains that he saw movement from Rizzo towards the pitch, indicating that Rizzo did not try to get out of the way. Rizzo and the umpire continue to debate the call, with Rizzo arguing that the ball was coming in behind him and he was simply turning into the pitch. The umpire maintains that regardless of the ball's trajectory, Rizzo is required to make a genuine effort to avoid being hit. Boone intervenes, telling Rizzo "I can't have you get thrown out. We've got a short bench, DJ's hurt, we don't have another first baseman." Rizzo acknowledges the situation, saying "I got it, I won't get thrown out. Appreciate it," and returns to the batter's box. On the very next pitch, Rizzo strikes out swinging, visibly frustrated. He then takes out his anger on the bat rack, slamming his helmet repeatedly. The umpire glances over, unsure if Rizzo is directing his frustration at him. Rizzo continues to express his displeasure, asking the umpire "Where the f*** am I supposed to go?" He argues that with the ball coming in behind him, he had nowhere to move to avoid being hit. However, the umpire's ruling stands, and the inning ends with the Yankees still trailing by one.

this rizzo at-bat came at a time when

the yankees were struggling like crazy

judge just got a hit so he's on first

base and they're thinking maybe

maybe we can put something together so

rizzo's a little amped up yarby's got

some funk comes with his fastball up top

lefty on lefty and see that drop down

so it's coming from like behind rizzo a

little bit sneaks the fastball in there

rizzo look at him on the plate now he's

gonna readjust his feet a bunch

dig a new hole maybe he wants more room

maybe he wants less i don't know he

definitely wants to bang the hell out of

his shoe there

and then step back in

rizzo stands on the plate getting hit by

pitch

it's kind of a skill set of him because

he's fearless he stands so close to the

plate takes away that inside from

pitchers that's part of his whole

gig

yarby comes the 1-1 and he tries to drop

down a slash bunt

you're thinking all right what's that

about well they show the shift and there

you go the whole left side's open this

guy says well what happens if they put

it over there and he says that's what

he's trying to do beat the shift

so they're just talking some baseball in

the stands and then breaking ball hits

them but the ump says no no no you're

staying here you're staying here and he

says no [ __ ] way dj i'm on the

[ __ ] plate that's [ __ ] and you

know it

come on

tries to reason with them but the

umpire's saying no you didn't get out of

the way of that ball booney's gonna come

ask him what's going on here and the

ump's gonna explain to him he says i see

movement towards a pitch ball

that's what i saw

and uh razer says no way

that's just my foot coming down

i'm turning the hit with it

am says no that's what i saw

now obviously

it's a pretty tricky call

cause

any slow-mo it's gonna look like he went

right into it because look the ball's

coming and he leans into it right

so the um says nope

you

you though the rule is it's not even you

can't lean into a ball the rule is you

have to attempt to get out of the way of

the ball

so all the replays don't really do rizzo

any justice because one yeah he's right

he's on the plate and then here

especially in slow-mo that looks like he

comes forward

where it gets tricky

is look where the ball is coming from

it's behind him

so if rizzo thinks that it's gonna hit

him here

or at this point if he's reading

fastball

because i mean you can see the way his

eyes are looking behind him he thinks

it's going to go behind him so he moves

forward

and then it hits him because it's a

breaking ball i mean that would be the

one defense of rizzo there but obviously

it looks like

dude he didn't try to get out of the way

but he's like i was trying to get away i

thought it was going to be behind me

look how far behind me that pitch is

then it comes in

the other thing is this this is rarely

ever called now boone's gonna tell him

like hey i can't have you thrown out we

got a short bench dj's hurt we don't got

another first baseman and he's all right

i got it i won't get thrown out

appreciate it see ya and then he's gonna

turn to the um he says that's a ball

right he says two and two

yup well got hit by a ball not even in

the zone [ __ ]

not happy about it like i said

this is more than just one at-bat rizzo

been slumping yanks been slumping

tensions are high

and he gets hit a lot and rarely gets

called for that and then another little

slide breaking ball

strikes rizzo out the inning changes the

at-bat changes this guy says there's a

[ __ ] call

and razor says yeah it was i'm gonna

take it out on the bat rack slams the

helmet slams the helmet slams the helmet

slams the helmet

mad

very upset can't get over it watches the

replay still thinks it's a bad call

doesn't like it one bit the ump's gonna

peek over and be like what's he doing

over there is he mad at me huh is he

still frustrated oh okay don't look

don't look and rizzo's talking to

everyone and he says uh where the [ __ ]

am i supposed to go

huh

and his point is

the ball starts behind him so he's not

going to move backwards

and then it comes forward

into where he's trying to get away from

it i think he you know the way he's

ducking it looks like he thinks it's

going to hit him on the ass

and then hits him there

and he was prepping to get hit

definitely looks bad because all like

the um said all his movement is coming

towards the pitch

the pitch is a breaking ball

you don't see this called that much if

you do it's usually with the elbows not

really with the legs

so there you have it

a little maybe you don't know that rule

you never seen it

What Happened

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