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Giants pitcher Carlos Rodón had his frustrations with a lackluster start boil over in the fifth inning of a 7–3 loss to the Diamondbacks Tuesday when he kicked a bat in the dugout that hit shortstop Thairo Estrada in the knee.
When he came off the mound and into the dugout after having given up five runs in the first five innings, Rodón immediately kicked at a bat on the ground. Estrada was walking from the other direction and didn’t have time to fully protect himself from the sudden projectile.
The bat appeared to strike the San Francisco shortstop in the knee, causing him to react by dropping to the ground before eventually getting back up with a grimace. Giants teammates, including infielder Wilmer Flores, were noticeably displeased with Rodón’s actions.
Estrada remained in the game and was hit by a pitch in his arm guard to lead off the sixth inning. He later scored on Brandon Belt’s double.
After the game, Rodón addressed the incident, calling his actions “unacceptable” and “stupid.”
“Unacceptable action,” Rodón said after the game, per the Associated Press. “I hit my teammate, the nicest teammate on the team. Just a selfish action and it just cannot happen. Stupid.”
Rodón (8–6) finished the night having given up just three hits in six innings. However, two of the hits were home runs, which resulted in five runs for Arizona. Rodón said that his frustration built upon a previous poor start in Los Angeles and that he was hoping to perform better on Tuesday.
“Carlos feels terrible, he knows it’s unacceptable,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said, per AP. “These are his teammates and if he’s not able to maintain control, somebody can get hurt. … We’re going to work on ways for him to be in control in those situations.”
