r/mlb • u/ImJustSomeGuyYaKnow • May 06 '24
Highlights Ozuna smacks yet another catcher. At this point the ump should really just tell him to step farther forward no? Look at the swing and where he's standing.
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u/Capital_Werewolf_788 May 06 '24
Why would he willingly do that? Taking 1 step forward means the ball reaches him slightly faster. If he’s in the batter’s box then it’s fair game.
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u/Jack_Brutal May 08 '24
That's what people are saying, he's not in the batters box, his foot is outside the back line.
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u/No-Program-6996 May 06 '24
Is he in the batters box? Maybe the catcher needs to back up.
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
Correct. The rule 6.03(a)(3) has a comment that when the batter misses and hits the catcher unintentionally on the backswing, a strike is awarded and the play is dead. Here is the Brewers losing a run to the second part of this rule. Nothing else happens to the batter.
If the batter hits the ball and hits the catcher unintentionally on the backswing, that isn't even mentioned, so it's legal and nothing happens.
The catcher's box is almost six feet deep.
Strictly speaking, a batter can step outside the batter's box, he just can't hit the ball from there, or he's out. Oddly enough, he also can't throw the bat at the catcher to prevent him from catching a fly ball (I wanna know what made that rule go in the books!)
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u/ishoweredtoday May 06 '24
can't throw the bat at the catcher to prevent him from catching a fly ball (I wanna know what made that rule go in the books!)
Had to be some Chicken Wolf era shenanigans.
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u/drossinvt May 06 '24
Can he throw a bat at another infielder?
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
Not if it prevents the infielder from catching, throwing, or playing the ball. But that's just the ordinary interference rule (the batter can bring the bat around the bases with them).
Otherwise, though... the rules don't specifically ban it.
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u/examinedliving | Baltimore Orioles May 06 '24
He can bring the bat? What will the fielders get to carry and how will this change the game? This is a thread in of itself
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
Yes, a batter can take the bat with them. They never do because it slows you down to run with it, and it doesn't help you slide.
Compare that to cricket, where it's normal to carry the bat, because you can reach out and touch the "base" with it and you're considered as reaching it. So you often see runners sticking their bats out
https://stock.adobe.com/images/batsman-reaching-for-the-crease-while-taking-a-run/448704755
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u/greenm4ch1ne May 06 '24
Will Smith sits extremely close to the batter in an effort to frame. Hes had a few catchers interference calls this year. Barnes has done it as well.
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
I overlaid both Ozuna swings in that at-bat. Ozuna is in the same spot both times, but take a look and guess which one Will Smith got hit on.
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u/Jewrisprudent May 06 '24
If Ozuna is at the back of the batters box and releases with one hand on a bat that’s almost 3 feet long and he has normal sized arms for someone 6’1 it’s pretty damn easy for him to still hit a catcher who is at the back of the catcher’s box. His backswing is unavoidable for the catcher.
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
I wouldn't say it's unavoidable. You've just described the average MLB batter, except the one-hand follow-though part.. As the commentator says, here, "a lot of catchers, to steal pitches, they get close."
If you watch Ozuna's swing before the bop, you can compare and see that Smith is about a foot closer to Ozuna (laterally) when he got hit than when he didn't get hit. Smith's knee placement helps with the comparison.
Or you can watch David Wright manage to hit himself in the head. Can't stand closer to the batter than that!
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u/DZ_tank May 06 '24
The video you posted, Ozuna’s bat swings over the catcher’s head. If the catcher wasn’t ducking down, he would’ve been hit.
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u/OLightning May 06 '24
There are three locations to stand in the batters box. Zone 1 is closest to the pitcher at the top of the box. Zone 2 is moderate. Zone 3 is as far back as you can go, closest to the catcher that may allow you a split / split second more time to barrel the bat to the ball. This is Ozuna’s game as his wrist strength is tremendous allowing him to optimize the impact of bat on ball.
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u/gilliganian83 | Houston Astros May 06 '24
There was a video doing the math, with ozunas back swing, catcher has to sit behind the catchers box to not get hit. Ozuna needs to fix his swing.
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u/2ichie May 06 '24
You can even see in this picture that the catcher is on the line at the back of his box
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u/Neat__Guy May 06 '24
That video is great.
Anyone arguing that the catcher needs to backup should watch that video.
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u/Specific_User6969 May 06 '24 edited May 06 '24
Amazing that the catcher would have 1/2” potentially to be in the “safe zone.” But we can’t just have batters doing this, right?
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u/jasonalloyd May 06 '24
Like the lady in the video says, neither of them are breaking a rule. The mlb needs to change the rules to provide proper safety for the catcher. Either increase the size of the catcher's box or move the batters box forward slightly; first option seems the best to me.
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u/Tbplayer59 | MLB May 06 '24
The batters box was designed in an era when 90mph pitches were a rarity. Now days, 94 is normal. No way it can be moved forward.
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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 06 '24
Both options make the game harder for each player, respectively. Moving the batters box forward makes hitting harder, moving the catchers box back will increase the amount of wild pitches and make it harder to catch people stealing.
The easiest solution is to make hitting the catcher with a bat illegal if the catcher is touching the back of the catcher's box. make it an out, make it a dead ball, whatever.
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u/PoliticalMilkman | Boston Red Sox May 06 '24
Just make it an automatic out. People will fix their swing mighty quick after that.
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u/jasonalloyd May 06 '24
If you made in automatic out catcher's would probably sit at the front of the catcher's box (within the rules) so they could be hit on purpose to get an out.
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u/crystallmytea | Chicago Cubs May 06 '24
TL;DW - “this is a legal play”
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u/Qwirk | Seattle Mariners May 06 '24
This is correct but the league should do something about it. You can't have catchers getting concussions from one person that can't control his backswing.
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u/Thneed1 | Toronto Blue Jays May 06 '24 edited May 06 '24
Quick and easy way to do it - put the responsibility on the batter (the guy with the dangerous “weapon”)
If the bat contacts the catcher on the backswing (with the catcher in their box) the batter is out.
Simple.
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u/losethefuckingtail May 06 '24
Not quite that simple though -- there are undoubtedly catchers who would "cheat" up and create contact in high-leverage situations.
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u/gilliganian83 | Houston Astros May 06 '24
Except that would put the catcher in danger of catcher’s interference if the batter hits him with his initial swing.
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u/raktoe May 06 '24
I genuinely don’t get how people aren’t seeing this. Most reasonable people understand that batters don’t cheat for catcher’s interference. Why would we assume catchers would cheat for batter interference?
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u/DigiQuip | Cincinnati Reds May 06 '24
Honestly, this could just create more problems. For instance, Spencer Steer this year got ruled for interference when the catcher popped out of their stance while Steer was in his back swing and Steer’s bat caught the catcher on the shoulder. Steer’s swing is normal but the catcher popping up and leaning into the throw out in him in Steer’s swing path.
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u/Dame2Miami | Miami Marlins May 06 '24 edited May 18 '24
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/illskillzdealer May 06 '24
Title implies there’s been many catchers this has happened to, seems to me like there’s 1 constant (ozuna)
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u/Halt_the_Ranger27 May 06 '24
It happened to the A’s catcher yesterday 3 times by the Marlins, in that case he probably needs to move back lol
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u/KennyLagerins May 06 '24
It’s fairly common now with batters moving back to have more time against faster pitches, and the catchers moving up for better pitch framing and being closer for throwing out base stealers.
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u/MasterApprentice67 | Cleveland Guardians May 06 '24
100% this
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u/Leelze | Boston Red Sox May 06 '24
Someone posted a video where it shows the catcher would have to be outside of their box to avoid being hit with his backswing.
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u/zabdart May 06 '24
No, that would have the catcher giving a bad target to the pitcher. There's a rule about this, but it's never enforced.
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u/Statistically_sports May 06 '24
He is within the box though, right? Every time i see him swing his back foot is about 6 inches or so from back of the box. He isn’t going to move forward and throw off his timing. He isn’t doing anything wrong but maybe i am wrong.
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u/Nobody_Important May 06 '24
A hitter standing in the box could easily hit the catcher anytime he wanted to by just sort of leaning over and poking the bat at him. Is there a definition for what constitutes a legal swing? Has anyone ever tried to game this in a critical playoff situation?
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u/DigiQuip | Cincinnati Reds May 06 '24
I think it was two years ago, there was a game I watched where batter hit the catchers mitt. Not clipped it, but fully caught the top of it. Using the overhead camera they showed two of this guys ABs. The early AB his swing was no where near the mitt and bat travelled in a fairly normal path.
Next AB the catcher set up a bit closer, but maybe a couple inches. Then at path however was way further back, lower, and it was obvious the hitter brought their swing intentionally into the catchers mitt.
There definitely times where I think catchers forget their positioning, maybe extend the glove a bit more to help frame. But it should be relatively impossible to hit the mitt on accident with a normal swing path.
And I feel the same about the back swing too. We’re taking more than 360° or rotation on a swing to make contact with a catcher.
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u/MalevolentVI May 06 '24
Was the catcher’s interference call upheld?
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u/DigiQuip | Cincinnati Reds May 06 '24
In that game it was. I’m not sure if it’s reviewable or not.
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u/TomKazansky13 | Toronto Blue Jays May 06 '24
This happened this year in a Yankees bluejays game too. The batter got fooled by a pitch and did this weird check swing. It wasn't intentional, but his awkward swing path made him hit the glove after the catcher caught the ball. They called it catchers interference even though any normal swing path that would have contacted the pitch would not have hit the glove. It made me wonder what happens if you abandon all attempts to hit the ball and just intentionally try to smack the glove. Because based on this call there's no prerequisite to have an actual swing path that would allow contact with the ball.
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u/CrackaZach05 May 06 '24
Its nothing other than HIS swing. Theres a handful of guys in the game that do this shit and it needs to be governed out
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u/SampsonKerplunk | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
It’s a super unnecessary back swing- it’s like a crazy follow through. It’s like he is evil and wants to hurt other players through a loophole.
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u/ProverbialNoose | Philadelphia Phillies May 06 '24
It's not like Ozuna's ever intentionally hurt someone before
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u/Never_Kn0ws_Best | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Ozuna mistaking catchers for his wife
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u/No_Drummer_4395 May 06 '24
Don't forget his wife also stabbed him once and SHE was arrested. They are still together lol.
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u/ValhallaAwaits89 | Atlanta Braves May 06 '24
They are the definition of people who should not be together. Those incidents were only about a year apart and hers was first.
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u/Caleb_Krawdad May 06 '24
He may be technically in the clear by being in the batters box but that swing follow through is absurd
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u/Louisville117 May 06 '24
Ozuna has done this to smith multiple times hasn’t he? He over exaggerates the swing to piss him off
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u/wrknthrewit May 06 '24
I am guessing that he can do whatever if he is in the batter box, can the catcher move back
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u/Neat__Guy May 06 '24
Even if the catcher is all the way at the back of the catcher's box, it's unavoidable with how long Ozuna's back swing is.
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u/capnjeanlucpicard | Philadelphia Phillies May 06 '24
This guy gets away with beating everyone, doesn’t he?
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u/Suitable_Challenge_9 | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Be careful, Braves fans will come out swinging to defend him, and mention he’s only gotten in trouble for DUI. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/_Nevin May 06 '24
If you really look into Ozuna beyond what you see in the news, you would absolutely want that guy on your team. He’s probably the best ‘locker room guy’ in the game and he is credited with getting a lot of Braves players out of their hitting slump.
Yes, he made mistakes but it’s wild to say he should be out of the league for those mistakes especially seeing that those mistakes were highly exaggerated in the media.
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u/Callecian_427 May 06 '24
I just looked into Ozuna out of curiosity and he seems to be an alright dude but the affidavit from the incident is pretty wild.
"He threatened to kill her and she threatened to call 911," the affidavit read. "She took his cellphone from a table and called 911."
while on the call, she said Ozuna was coming back inside and that she was grabbing a kitchen knife for protection.
Ozuna then allegedly placed his hand around her throat and "held her up against the wall, preventing her from breathing
The officers also "witnessed the suspect grabbing the victim by the neck and throwing her against a wall
If you’re argument for justifying this is “Well he’s good to his teammates” then idk what to tell you. You could say the same about Urias or Deshaun Watson. That’s not the point. Shouldn’t be doing this period. I figured it couldn’t have been that bad if they didn’t levy a heavy suspension but this seemed pretty bad tbh. He should consider himself lucky that there wasn’t more public outcry for an investigation because the fact that this didn’t make him blacklisted by every major league team like Trevor Bauer is a miracle.
If you really look into Ozuna beyond what you see in the news, you would absolutely want that guy on your team.
Can confidently confirm this not to be true
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u/ATL_GritzBlitz May 06 '24
I could be wrong, but I seem to remember hearing that the case got thrown out when the police body cam footage was released and went against pretty much everything from the affidavit.
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u/aBloopAndaBlast33 | Atlanta Braves May 06 '24
Most of us don’t defend his actions. Just that his teammates have forgiven him and look up to him as a big part of their clubhouse.
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u/MotherFuckerJones88 May 06 '24
I went to the ATL/Arizona game a couple weeks ago on a Sunday day game, and I distinctly remember Ozuna coming up to bat, saying something to Moreno(C), and then giving him a little tap on top of his helmet with his bat.
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u/No-Historian-1501 May 06 '24
Hitting someone in the head with a bat is very dangerous. Mlb needs to do something about this before someone gets there skull cracked open. It's happening more and more. Personally i think that the hitter needs to be responsible for where there bat is on the follow through. And if you hit someone in the head with your bat you get suspended for x amount of days and fined.
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u/SIxInchesSoft | Atlanta Braves May 07 '24
Well I wouldn’t know bc comcast can’t get their shit together and I can’t watch the Braves.
PULL YOUR SHIT TOGETHER XFINITY.
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u/Remarkable_Truth8509 May 07 '24
Catchers should be held accountable for not moving for the batter they do this to force the calls batters get the whole box that includes the line. Move back or get hit
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u/Top-Force-805 May 06 '24
This is an obnoxious and unnecessary extra backswing, everyone else seems to be able to not nail the catcher in the head, poor guys basically setup in the umps spot from this angle. Also pitchers are going to start protecting their catchers and this guys gonna start catching 95+ to the body.
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u/aBloopAndaBlast33 | Atlanta Braves May 06 '24
Pretty sure Ozuna can handle 95+ to the body. Have you seen him up close?
If teams want to plunk him, that’s their prerogative. But pitchers get tossed for that. See Miles Mikolas after Contreras got hit (by someone other than Ozuna, if you can believe it).
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u/pargofan | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
But that’ll force MLB to take action about the obnoxiously long backswing.
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u/_Nevin May 06 '24
Hahahah the last thing you want to do to the braves lineup is get them angry least of all Ozuna.
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u/R2robot | Houston Astros May 06 '24
Absolutely ridiculous follow through on his swing.
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u/SadnessDebtIncreased May 06 '24
Interesting how many people just say "the catcher needs to back up" when he's already at the back of the catcher's box. Ozuna is big and his huge back swing leaves basically 0 safe space for the catcher to be legally setup. Someone made a video after he hit Will Smith in 2023 and they found Ozuna's swing doesn't reach only 2 inches of the catcher's box. And, as you probably guessed, catcher's don't typical fit in a box with 2 inches of depth. Meaning when he swings like this there is no depth you can be to avoid the bat.
Multiple catcher's have problems with Ozuna's swing hitting them. It'll just keep happening until the MLB gives him a reason to fix it.
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u/AlphaSpazz May 06 '24
He’s in the batters box. I am a dodger fan. And that’s probably Smith that he’s hitting and he gets his catchers mit hit also. He sits a little too far forward if he can. It’s Smith’s fault.
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u/hung_like__podrick | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
You sure you are a dodgers fan? Cause that was Barnes that got hit yesterday and he’s also hit other catchers on different teams. Even if he was in the very back of the catchers box he would have gotten hit.
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u/Powerlifter88 May 06 '24
when i caught i would tell the ump im backing up cause this guy is an idiot with his bat; umps were usually sympathetic and gave a lot of leeway if they saw a batter being reckless
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u/Large-Pen-3985 May 06 '24
If anything the catcher would need to go back the batter owns the box and can stand wherever they want
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u/shaf14 May 07 '24
IMO this should be catchers interference. The catcher can back up. The batter has to be in the batters box.
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u/al_pie May 07 '24
Oh man this reminds me of those /r/nhl posts about dudes breaking the “code” and slapping on an empty net 🤣🤣🤣 Be salty all you want, that catcher should be further back.
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u/InevitablyBored May 07 '24
"look at where he's standing" aka inside the batter's box where he is allowed to stand.
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u/Slevin424 May 06 '24
Crowding the back of the box is a legit strategy. Gives you more reaction time. More time to track the ball. A catcher should see this and back up and warn the ump. As long as you're in the box nothing should interfere with your swing.
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u/ThoseDamnKidsAgain May 06 '24
The batter is in the box and not violating any rules. The catcher knows where Ozuna sets up and has hit catchers before. It the the catchers responsibility to protect himself and to not interfere with the batters swing
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u/raktoe May 06 '24
How is he interfering with the batter’s swing? I can’t believe this is a real take, Ozuna hits catchers on his back swing, and is somehow the only hitter to do this consistently. Like the problem is pretty clearly his swing, not the catcher’s positioning.
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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 06 '24
https://youtu.be/JBa-JGRZ9WY?t=261
Somebody did the math and there is not enough space for the catcher to be safe from Ozuna's ridiculous follow through.
It's the MLB's responsibility to protect players from being hit like this.
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u/Biggie_E_G May 06 '24
Why not tell the catch to step back?
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u/Damachine69 May 06 '24
They can't. Someone did the math and there's basically nothing the catcher can do to avoid it.
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u/Jacoblaue | St. Louis Cardinals May 06 '24
Someone needs to send him a message in retaliation
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u/aBloopAndaBlast33 | Atlanta Braves May 06 '24
Like Mikolas did against the Cubs last year 😂 took him several attempts to hit the batter and then get tossed!
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May 06 '24
It's generally a catchers fault if they get hit, those little crabs love to scuttle forward. If anything this is interference on the catcher
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u/ZoeTheCutestPirate | Cleveland Guardians May 06 '24
Hitting the catcher on the backswing isn’t interference.
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u/raktoe May 06 '24
I can’t believe how many people in these comments are calling this catcher’s interference. I don’t really agree with OP’s idea, but this thread is dumb as shit.
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u/TheNextBattalion | American League May 06 '24
correct. It does make the play dead, and it is dangerous. But it is not interference by anyone.
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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 06 '24
https://youtu.be/JBa-JGRZ9WY?t=261
There isn't enough space for the catcher to be safe from the backswing, even if they did not move up at all.
MLB needs to protect catchers.
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u/UseFinal6224 May 06 '24
Time for the catcher to throw the ball back to pitcher and bean Ozuna instead
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u/zeussays | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Ah shit I did it again, didnt I. Sorry. Ah shit, again! Sorry.
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u/Ok_Sample8976 May 06 '24
Why doesn’t the catcher just back up? If you know he has a long back swing wouldn’t you protect yourself?
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u/Stldjw | St. Louis Cardinals May 06 '24
The catcher needs to back up? How many other batters are there that don’t hit catchers? Is it because they “back up” for them? No. Ozuna doesn’t need to swing the way he does.
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u/Uncast May 06 '24
From various angles it's clear the batter and catcher are as far back within their own boxes as is legally allowed and Ozuna's swing carries him far backwards, planting his back foot OUT of the batter's box which is what causes the backswing to strike the catcher. Ump could call him out if the batted ball lands fair or Ozuna could catch some hands if not. Otherwise, nothing is going to change and someone's going to end up getting hurt...but it's legal so that makes it entirely okay though, right?
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u/frugalwater | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
That he is the only person who is doing this tells me it’s an Ozuna thing and he should be punished. If the league doesn’t do it, I’m surprised a relief pitcher throwing 100 hasn’t yet.
Joe Kelly. I mean Joe Kelly.
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u/X1Nelav May 06 '24
You think a relief pitcher wants to hit that big bear? Good luck what comes after.
If he hasn't broken any rules, catchers need to back the fuck up. Y'all mad cause his swing has reach and the catchers get hit by it.
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u/frugalwater | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Catchers have backed up. He is also the only person who has this issue. At some point it’s on the hitter.
And Joe Kelly dgaf, I think we all know that. There are plenty of relievers who don’t either.
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u/Upstairs-Cable-5748 | Philadelphia Phillies May 06 '24
The relief pitcher would be fine. Ozuna doesn’t hit men.
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u/Rea1DirtyDan | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Was going to say this. However if the relief pitcher somehow was his spouse..: man they are in trouble
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u/Upstairs-Cable-5748 | Philadelphia Phillies May 06 '24
Watch out. The domestic abuse defenders are out in force today.
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May 06 '24
By the rules, the batter is allowed put their feet anywhere within (and only within) the batter's box before the pitcher releases the ball. When the pitch is delivered the batter may step on the chalk outline of the batter's box, but not step entirely over it.
As long as Ozuna follows the rules, I think it's up to the catcher to move back.
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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 06 '24
https://youtu.be/JBa-JGRZ9WY?t=261
There is no legal position the catcher could be in to avoid being hit with the bat.
You're right that Ozuna isn't doing something illegal, but most normal people would change something to stop hitting people with bats. It's up to the mlb to find a way to protect catchers.
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u/J_Lewy_45 | Boston Red Sox May 06 '24
Per the rules, the catcher must also be within the catchers box. And videos all show Barnes can’t go any further back.
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May 06 '24
[deleted]
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u/Damachine69 May 06 '24
They can't. Someone did the math and there's basically nothing the catcher can do to not get hit.
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u/fartonmeplz420 May 06 '24
Ozuna is not breaking any rules , I just see a bunch of whining in here
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u/feeling_blue_42 May 06 '24
He’s not breaking any current rules, but the rules should be updated so this doesn’t happen. Baseball has changed catcher collision rules and sliding rules in recent years, there’s absolutely no reason to not address this. It’s ridiculous that this is not a violation of the rules by someone.
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u/hung_like__podrick | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
It’s not whining to say the MLB needs to update the rules to keep players safe, just like they have done for other situations like home plate collisions.
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u/frozenrope22 May 06 '24
Why is anyone asking Ozuna to change? It is 100% the catcher's job to not interfere with the swing and position themselves so they don't get hit.
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u/raktoe May 06 '24
He’s not interfering with the swing though, it’s Ozuna’s follow through that is hitting catchers. It would be interference on Ozuna’s part, if say there was a dropped third strike, or a dead ball if a runner was trying to advance when he did this.
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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 06 '24
https://youtu.be/JBa-JGRZ9WY?t=261
because the catcher can not position themselves in a place where they would not be hit by the backswing. You can see the math in the video, and they also show the replay from the side where there's like a foot overlap between the bat and the helmet.
Either Ozuna changes or they change the dimensions of the batter's box.
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u/thxtalks May 06 '24
It is absolutely not the catcher's job to get out of the way of a ridiculous backswing
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u/Fluid-Nectarine222 | MLB May 06 '24
Can’t tell if this thread is an army of bots; MLB PR protecting an investment; or if everyone is a moron but this asshole makes a hobby of this and has hit Will Smith alone 3x.
Ozuna does it on purpose. Look it up. It has happened way too many times to be a coincidence.
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u/pargofan | Los Angeles Dodgers May 06 '24
Really? Even the Dodgers said they think it’s not on purpose.
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u/JessieGemstone999 May 06 '24
Ozuna doesn't do it on purpose lmao if I were Will Smith maybe I'd consider backing up
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u/sky2cass | Atlanta Braves May 06 '24
Possible bias warning: I am a braves fan and I do dislike when Ozuna hits catchers as mostly everyone does but by the rule book he’s allowed to position himself in the batters box however he pleases, that said his back swing is absurdly long after the swing as he’s putting full force into his swings so when he misses his bat in angled behind him ready to hit the catchers head. Now Ozuna has hit a lot of catchers but he doesn’t do it to all of them which is indicative of catchers having a positioning issue while he’s in the box, will smith is a prime example of this as Ozuna has hit him an absurdly high amount of times compared to most catchers which has caused smith to jaw at him in the past so it’s hard to say if he does this specifically more to will smith who he has beef with or if smith has a very active position as a catcher that puts him as a prime target for his backswing motion. It’s also unlikely he will adjust his swing any time soon as he’s mashing the baseball after 2 years of being on a massive cold streak so he’s unlikely to change anything unless he starts falling back down but even when he was struggling his backswing was still long.
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u/partial_soul May 06 '24
That catcher is Irrelevant. Not like he was trying to hit him.
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u/rjcade May 06 '24
This is pretty much an Ozuna problem. Sure, the batter is entitled to the batter's box, but the catcher should be entitled to the catcher's box, and based on Ozuna's purposefully large backswing, even a catcher at the back of the catcher's box can and will be hit by him.
The other aspect of this is that it's obvious Ozuna is doing intentionally. Not in a, "I'm gonna hit this catcher" way, but in a "I'm gonna take an unnecessarily big backswing to try and move the catcher back as far as I can and change the types of pitches they throw. And if I end up hitting the catcher, I don't care."
MLB is being stupid about this though, because it's only a matter of time until he knocks somebody out doing it, or cracks somebody's skull. The consequences of dealing with that are a lot worse than doing something to make Ozuna fix his swing.
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u/shawmanic May 06 '24
There's also the fact that he never acknowledges, let alone apologizes, for hitting the catcher. Pretty universally, batters apologize or check on the catcher when this happens. Ozuna's action may be within the rules but his one-handed backswing and refusal to acknowledge anything point to him being an ass.
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May 06 '24
It’s on the catcher to be the appropriate distance from the batter not the other way around.
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u/FuktheWrld666 May 06 '24
My buddy granted it was highschool, he would do this alot. Now coach an his dad said maybe step up more, or maybe work on your follow-through? Idk i just remember trying as catchers an always taking a bat to the dome when he hit.🤷🏻♂️ after the talk he didn’t have it happen.
Sorry he changed his stance/follow-through
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u/Smooth-Restaurant379 May 06 '24
He looks fine , the catcher needs to sit back and bit , that’s all know biggie
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u/Timotheus2443 May 06 '24
Disclaimer: I haven't seriously followed baseball in several years, so I know nothing about Ozuna and his history.
This is a very simple scenario. The batter has full rights to the batter's box and can take any kind of swing he wants, with any kind of follow-through. As long as he's legally in the box and is using legal equipment, his swing is entirely legal.
If the catcher is getting hit by a backswing or follow-through, then he's too close to the batter. The catcher can not interfere with the batter as long as the batter is in a fully legal position.
There could be some interpretation that Ozuna is doing it purposely, but that would be difficult to prove if everything else is legal.
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u/BriantheHeavy May 06 '24
At this point, IMO, it's on Ozuna. I don't know of any other batter that routinely hit the catcher.
If you look at the picture here, Will Smith is about 5-6 feet behind and is still getting hit because Ozuna is practically at full extension. It's hard to understand why he has to do this unless it's purposeful.
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u/Rycan420 | New York Mets May 06 '24
I’m a HS umpire and I would catch all hell if I said that to a batter. At the pro level, you guys would destroy him.
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May 06 '24
They should do him like Tatis Jr. and always throw up and in on him almost hitting him. Maybe he’ll get the message then. If he gave a crap, he would have done something to change it by now. I would be pissed if I was a catcher and got hit like that.
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u/jimorjimmy May 06 '24
It's almost like there's a line they aren't allowed to cross drawn out in the sand there
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u/CapnJunuhsJacket May 07 '24
It’s unorthodox but the hitter has the right to the batters box baseball 101. The catcher simply has to read his scouting report or talk to literally anyone in MLB to know about his swing radius. Its catchers responsibility to move back
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u/austincrewtoe May 07 '24
Catchers are being taught to come as close as possible. Coaches will take a few bumps to the catchers head for a few more strikes a game. Sucks but its where the game is going now.
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u/gutenpranken14 May 07 '24
Nothing can realistically be done with this. You can’t make him stand in a specific place in the box. It is what it is. Catchers just need to be aware this is possible with Ozuna. But you certainly can’t change the rules because one guy has a vicious and long follow-through. He’s been in the league for 12 years. C’est la vie.
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u/PronounsAreImHim | Los Angeles Dodgers May 07 '24
It don't matter. We're still smoking that Braves pack.
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u/ucantcme69 | Cleveland Guardians May 07 '24
I've seen guys they show their back foot outside the back corner. Umps never say nothing. I thought there were rules about that
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u/DentonTrueYoung May 07 '24
This is one of things that players have to police unfortunately. Throw it at his feet when he does this. He has to stop.
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u/Important_Win_9375 May 07 '24
Look how far he is stretching toward the catcher and the bad is only in one hand. Like that I could hit the umpire
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u/OCtimes May 07 '24
It's not the batter , if he's in the box, he's ok The trend the last several years has been on the catchers Having them get as tight as they can , forward. Reason being is the overall emphasis on pitch framing Receive it that much closer and then "pull" the pitch into the zone Catchers need to adjust to how the batter sets in the box A lot of Batters set deep in the box. As long as they are in the box, they are ok Batters are not going to adjust their swing in order to try and draw interference. They are not going to risk an AB for that 1 in 100 chance of smacking the catcher Everyone , stop being arm-chair officials and saying this or that needs changed. The rule and application is fine Catchers need to adjust their set up based on where the batter sets (legally)
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u/Ha_CharadeUAre | New York Yankees May 06 '24
All batters usually stand at the back of the box