DUNEDIN, Fla. — JT Realmuto can’t believe it.
Reliever Craig Kimbrel was just called for a pitch-clock violation in the bottom of the fourth inning of a Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. Kimbrel asked for a new baseball. Realmuto, the Phillies’ catcher, returned for a substitution from home plate umpire Randy Rosenberg. Realmuto then saw Kimbrel’s eyes lift to the sky. He thought Rosenberg threw Kimbrel the new ball, so Realmuto pulled his glove back.
The next thing he knew, Rosenberg was pushing him away. Miscommunication, says Realmuto.
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Rosenberg was putting the ball in Realmuto’s glove when it was snapped back. The ball hit the ground, and Rosenberg looked silly. So, he struck out Realmuto — the first time he’d been tossed in nearly 2,000 professional games. Everyone is fired up at the end of spring training.
As he reviewed the tape in the visitors’ clubhouse at TD Ballpark, Realmuto was less angry than incredulous.
“How does he expect me to know he’s giving me the ball there?” asked Realmuto. “I’m not even looking at him.”
Realmuto said Rosenberg argued that Realmuto was trying to show him off because Realmuto was upset about the pitch-clock violation.
“I said, ‘Dude, I thought you were the one throwing the ball,'” Realmuto said. “He said, ‘I’m not buying that.’”
Rosenberg is a triple-A umpire and a major league “call-up umpire” eligible for spring training games and as a fill-in during the regular season, an “up-down” that person, said crew chief Dan Iassogna. He did not make Rosenberg available; it is common in controversial situations that only the crew chief will respond in such situations.
Did Iassogna, as Rosenberg’s proxy, think Rosenberg acted too quickly?
“Is Randy in a hurry? No,” Iassogna said. “I believe Randy felt the situation called for a blowout, and that’s what he did.”
This doesn’t seem to warrant any reaction, but umps are human too. Perhaps the atmosphere of tension surrounding the new pitch-clock rules and the general stiffness that comes with a final spring training game on a sweltering afternoon made everyone a little flustered.
“Definitely, something happened in between [Rosenberg and] either Kimbrel or Realmuto, from where I am,” Iassogna said.
So, what does he think happened?
“I couldn’t tell from my position at second base what was going on, but I knew it had to be related to the pitch-clock violation,” Iassogna said. “As soon as I saw the ejection, I knew either Kimbrel or JT ran.”
It’s JT.
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Realmuto said he did not say anything to Rosenberg before or during the incident. Did Rosenberg tell Iassogna that Realmuto said something that was incorrect at some point?
“He didn’t say anything that he said,” Iassogna said, “but he didn’t tell me that he was no say anything.”
Iassogna said the crew will follow the routine that follows any ejection: reviewing the tape and submitting a report to MLB.
Was there some history between the catcher and the ump? Nope. Realmuto said he had never crossed paths with Rosenberg before. Of course, they have history now.
Kind of a funny history.
“Now that I see why he got me … it was perfect timing,” Realmuto said. “I was ejected for the first time. It’s a soft way to dispose.”
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