"A baseball season is long and frustrating. By the time the calendar flips to September, and the season enters that phase where the stresses of playoff races compound the mental and physical fatigue that has accumulated over the previous 140 or so games, it's fair to wonder how anyone is keeping it together out there. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes, a player can get so mad that they might sneak attack their own catcher with a heater."
"After missing the zone with his first pitch, a curveball, to Trent Grisham, Valdez came set while Salazar fiddled with the PitchCom buttons to call for the next pitch. Apparently unhappy with how that process was going, Salazar waved at Valdez to step off the mound and reset, at which point Valdez began his windup and fired a sinker over the middle of the plate that Grisham turned into a grand slam."
"He'd just given up a grand slam after ignoring the counsel of his catcher and then badly mislocated his best pitch. Stupid game, is a thought that may very well have been filling Valdez's head at this time. Stupid fucking sport that I hate playing! Stupid catcher that distracted me with his little wave and made me give up a grand slam!"
Fatigue and frustration can intensify late in a long baseball season and lead to volatile on-field moments. Observers speculate that Houston Astros starter Framber Valdez intentionally threw at catcher César Salazar during a 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The sequence began in the fifth inning when Valdez missed the zone, Salazar adjusted PitchCom, Salazar waved for Valdez to step off, and Valdez then threw a sinker that became a grand slam for Trent Grisham. Valdez later started the next batter with another missed sinker, appeared angry, and then a 93 mph sinker struck Salazar. Both players were called into the manager's office after the game.
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