Chicago White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes (73) reacts after hitting a home run during the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

MLB pitchers have funny responses to unwritten rules controversy

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 5/19/21

Chicago White Sox slugger Yermin Mercedes violated one of baseball’s unwritten rules on Monday night when he belted a home run late in his team’s 16-4 win. His own manager was unhappy with him over it, but there are plenty of players who had no problem with Mercedes swinging away — even pitchers.

The White Sox scored 14 runs in the first six innings en route to blowing out the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota had utility player Willians Astudillo pitch the final half-inning of the game, and Mercedes crushed a 3-0 home run off of him. La Russa said Tuesday that he understood why the Twins were upset and that Mercedes would face consequences.

New York Mets pitcher Trevor May did not see what all the fuss was about. He sent a sarcastic tweet saying hitters should just sit back and allow pitchers to get back in the count.

I think hitter should never swing 3-0 and always let us back in the count.

— Trevor “IamTrevorMay” May (@IamTrevorMay) May 19, 2021

Alex Wood, a veteran pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, agreed. He said all “rules” go out the window when a team sends a position player out to the mound.

If there’s a position player pitching in a big league game all “rules” are out the window imho. Plus do y’all realize how hard that is to launch a 49mph pitch 400 feet lol? Give the people what they want.
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) May 18, 2021