Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Mike Wright Jr. was slapped with a three-game suspension for hitting Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani. Safe to say manager Tony La Russa was not happy about it.
The play in question was during the top of the 9th inning two outs and Ohtani as the potential last batter. The game was virtually out of hand with the White Sox down six runs.
Check out the clip below and see for yourself:
White Sox reliever Mike Wright Jr. was ejected in the 9th inning after hitting Shohei Ohtani with a pitch.
Tony La Russa was also ejected soon after.
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The White Sox manager spoke to the media to explain their side. La Russa claimed that there's an “unfairness” in terms of how they went about handing the suspension, given that his own players were hit numerous times.
Via Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune:
“I didn’t see the scrutiny being even. Because it was that one pitch, we had plenty of opportunities to be upset, and we were just pitching him the same way we pitched him the whole time. But our guys, three guys get hit (Tuesday), one guy (Luis Robert) gets hit in the head, (José) Abreu gets hit for the 19th time, and nobody pays attention to that. There’s an unfairness there that upsets me.”
He also stated that the White Sox have the lowest HBP number in the majors, which actually works both ways as an argument for and against Wright's intentions on the pitch.
Mike Wright Jr. will be given an opportunity to defend his side, but for now the White Sox will have to plan for a few games without him.
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