St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina ranted on Instagram after a home plate collision in the Angels-Astros game sent left catcher Jonathan Lucroy to the hospital Sunday night.
Based on video of the collision, it seems that Lucroy was not blocking the entirety of the plate, leaving space on the outside so Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick could avoid a massive collision. (RELATED: Los Angeles Angels Pitcher Tyler Skaggs Dies, Game Against The Rangers Cancelled)
You be the judge:
Do you believe the collision between Lucroy and Marisnick was clean or dirty? I want to hear some thoughts and opinions on the matter pic.twitter.com/hC47uXuCTY
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken) July 8, 2019
It is one of the most brutal collisions we have seen in the last couple years after the MLB dropped a rule in 2014 basically eliminating the hard-hitting scoring play.
The future hall-of-fame catcher certainly was not pleased with the play from Marisnick. The scariest part of the collision is clearly the helmet-to-helmet contact that left Lucroy motionless on the dirt.
How the Angels respond will be interesting to say the least. If I were Marisnick I would be expecting a 95 mph fastball right to the earhole during my next at-bat.
Clearly the MLB should get involved with this situation like Molina explains in his post before a catcher has a career-threatening injury. Ever since the Buster Posey incident in 2011, we have seen less of these plays making the national spotlight.
Jake Marisnick just killed Jonathan Lucroy…#Analysis #Angels #Astros pic.twitter.com/teN3gu7Ip6
— Francis in Glendale (@TFPWillEat) July 7, 2019
Marisnick offered his view of the play after the game:
“That was a bad play. For me, I was running and I see him take a step kind of up the line like he’s going to drop and go back so I tried to take an in-step and slide head first on the inside corner. And I watched the play again and it looks like he just drops right in front of me and once I kind of made a decision it was too late. And it was a bad play, and I hope he’s OK.”
This explanation would be understandable if the replay aligned with what the outfielder is describing. The plate was open to the outside and a collision could have clearly been avoided.
No matter what defense he suggests, Marisnick certainly did not make many friends in LA over the weekend.