Mike Trout was nearly hit by a pitch during the ninth inning on Saturday night before the Seattle Mariners decided to intentionally walk him. The Los Angeles Angeles star seemed to think the high-and-tight pitch was intentional, and he was not happy about it.
After the Angels’ 5-3 loss, Trout was critical of Mariners right-hander Erik Swanson for throwing a pitch near his head. The ball went to the backstop and allowed a runner to advance from first to second. Seattle put Trout on after that.
“If you can’t pitch inside, don’t pitch inside,” Trout said, via MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. “If you’re going to hit me, hit me in the ribs, don’t hit me in the head. I don’t know if that was the intent, but anything at the head, you don’t do that.”
Swanson said he was simply trying to pitch up and in, which is the weakest part of the zone for Trout.
“You’re trying to go up right there,” the pitcher said. “If I’m going to miss up, that’s where I want to miss, especially to a hitter like that. The guy is one of, if not the best, hitters in the entire league, and if I’m going to miss, I need to miss up with that.”
Shohei Ohtani lined out to end the game with Trout on base as the go-ahead run, so Swanson and the Mariners got the job done. It seems unlikely that Swanson was intentionally head-hunting in that situation. Trout was probably just frustrated that the Angels lost for the fourth time in five games.
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