I’m not saying that the newly named reliever Brad Boxberger went out there tonight in the 9th to beat Willson Contreras. I’m pretty sure even Contreras does not think so.
But if you’ve been hooked the night before and then hit again – for the SIXTH TIME by the Brewers in the last 11 games against them – you’re going to react, even if it’s just for a furious boom:
After being hit in the helmet yesterday, Willson Contreras is beaten again tonight and he is not happy. Various # Puppies hitters have been hit or thrown during the series so far.
(📸: @ WatchMarquee) pic.twitter.com/IVnhegjNq4
– Cubz Zone ️ ️ (@CubsZone) 7 April 2021
Contreras was just pissed there. You can understand this:
The Brewers are certainly not trying to beat Willson Contreras in the ninth innings with a four-run lead and a pitcher activated from the Alt Site this afternoon. But as Travis Shaw has just said, you can understand why Contreras’s temper flared up. pic.twitter.com/z9VseRoscx
– Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) 7 April 2021
After the game, David Ross articulated the problem with these HBPs:
David Ross on Contreras, with the exception that he was hit in the head-and-shoulder rugby games against the Brewers. “It’s scary. At some point you have to be better, you can not just keep trying to hit inside and hit guys. You have to be better.” # Puppies
– Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) 7 April 2021
If you can not reasonably locate your stands in the inner half, you need to think carefully about whether it is worth going in there. Not just because you might give up a quick free lead, but because you could run a serious injury for the batter and retaliation for your teammates. I remember something John Baker discussed at a time when the Pirates were notorious for hitting batsmen. Retaliation – or the threat of retaliation – was not just about returning to a team or whatever. Sometimes it was to send the message to the other team in exactly a situation like this: you have to stop hitting our guys, accident or no. If you can not hit safely inside, you need to reconsider your approach.
I don’t know if I agree with that or not, but after seeing the Cubs beat more than any team in baseball over the past few years, I get worse. Yes, Anthony Rizzo makes it his business to sit on top of the board, but that’s not all. And yet everyone is being hit all the time – especially Willson Contreras by the Brewers lately.
I doubt it will be the end of this conversation between the teams.