Rehabbing Seattle Mariner Hurls Bat at A's Pitcher

Robles, 28, broke out last season with the Mariners but has been on the IL most of the season after he dislocated his left shoulder in early April. He began his rehab assignment this week against Triple-A Las Vegas, and was hit twice in his first game back, and then again the following game. Sunday's inside pitch would have been the fourth of the series if Robles hadn't swung.

Given the context, it's perfectly understandable to be frustrated in that situation, but throwing the bat is never the solution.

While the camera doesn't show Estes post bat toss in the clip above, it's safe to say that the bat missed doing any real damage since he ended up going six innings, giving up five hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out four. All of this occurred in the top of the third inning, so he was still in there for awhile after.

A's fans can even relate to getting behind their guy when he's being hit consistently in a series. Back in 2020, the A's were the best team in the AL West, and they were trying to knock off the Houston Astros, who were in their first season of play once the trash can scheme had come out.

In their first three-game series against each other, Laureano was hit three times, including twice in the final game. A's batters were hit a total of five times in the series.

The last time Laureano was hit, he went to first, demonstrating an effective slider grip for the Astros' pitcher. As he reached first, Houston's hitting coach, Alex Cintron began jawing at Laureano, and even challenged him to head on over to the Astros dugout. So he did. Laureano took off for the dugout, where he was cut off by backup catcher Dustin Garneau and brought to the ground while Cintron stayed on the outside of the fray.

The benches cleared, and suspensions were handed out.

The difference between Laureano charging the dugout and Robles throwing his bat is that Laureano was hit repeatedly, but was cool about it until the Astros coach challenged him. In the video above, Robles' own teammates, specifically Cade Marlow, are the ones stopping him from going out and attacking Estes on the mound, which would have escalated things further.

It's perfectly reasonable to be upset about getting hit by a pitch or three by the same team, and these six-game series will certainly make tempers rise as you're facing the same guys over and over. But throwing equipment just isn't the way to go about it. It also doesn't help his case in this instance that he swung at the pitch.