“Dude Needs a Suspension”: Bullpen-Clearing Incident Sees Los Angeles Dodgers Fans Flock to Stricken Catcher’s Support

Both the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers lead their respective divisions – National League East and West, respectively. Last night’s encounter turned quite heated when the Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna couldn’t control the swing of his bat.

During Monday’s match, tensions flared between Dodgers catcher Will Smith and Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna. The game, which was already intense due to the competition between these two leading division teams, witnessed the Dodgers mounting a comeback from a four-run disadvantage and ultimately securing an 8-6 victory.

What led to the heated on-field clash between Marcell Ozuna and Will Smith?

In the fourth inning of the game, Marcell Ozuna, who recently completed ten years in the MLB, was at bat against Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone. Ozuna made contact with the ball, resulting in a lazy fly ball to left field. However, during his follow-through, Ozuna unintentionally struck Smith on the head with an exaggerated swing. Ozuna promptly checked on Smith before running to first base.

Catcher Will Smith wasn’t happy and gave Ozuna a mouthful, saying “you’ve got to clean it up.” The conversation become quite heated and even though Ozuna seemed apologetic, the bullpens cleared with nothing boiling over and the heated conversation stayed at that.

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After the game, Smith said, “I was just mad. He hit me in the head with his bat pretty hard. It’s not the first time he’s done it to me. He’s done it to other catchers around the league. I just felt like there comes a point where I need to say something there. In the moment, it kind of got a little heated. It’s something he’s not doing on purpose. But you do it enough times you’d think he’d fix it.”

Several fans stood in support of Will Smith

While most fans blamed Ozuna since this wasn’t the first time he hit the catcher with his heavy backswing, a few also believed that it was the catcher’s job to adjust to the backswing.

As a result, this is how fans reacted:

Do you think Ozuna was in the wrong, or should Will Smith have adjusted according to Ozuna’s swing? Fans are divided, but what do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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