Hall of Famer Tony La Russa serves as the Arizona Diamondbacks chief baseball officer, and he defended the club in the controversial retaliation beaning of Pittsburgh Pirates centerfielder Andrew McCutchen over the weekend.
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La Russa spoke about Randall Delgado striking McCutchen with a pitch on Saturday night in what seemed to be retaliation for D-Backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt getting struck in the hand from a pitch by Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri a night earlier.
"I don't see where the Diamondbacks should catch all this [expletive] they're catching," La Russa told reporters, according to AZCentral.com.
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McCutchen left Sunday's game after flying out and jogging down the first baseline before being diagnosed with what the Pirates described as an "avulsion fracture involving the costochondral cartilage of the left 11th rib."
It is uncertain if the injury is related to getting struck by the pitch since the ailment occurred the following day. Delgado claimed that the pitch just got away from him. La Russa was very upset about Goldschmidt getting hit the night prior as he suffered a broken hand and is lost for the season.
"I was just sick to my stomach when I saw Paul got hit," La Russa said, according to MLB.com. "I was bothered when McCutchen got hit. I was bothered by it because I dislike that part of the game."
McCutchen said he wasn't sure if getting hit by the pitch caused his injury the next game but he did say that he has "taken a million swings and have never felt anything in my side until Sunday."
La Russa, who was known to have his pitchers retaliate when he managed the St. Louis Cardinals, also said a bigger deal is being made about McCutchen's injury than Goldschmidt's season ending.
"I've heard a lot about McCutchen getting hit, but I haven't seen nearly as much about Goldschmidt, who isn't going to play the rest of the season," La Russa said.
The Diamondbacks have plunked 32 batters this season while the Pirates have hit 61 batters -- the most in the majors.
"I think, wait a minute, five runs down in the ninth and this guy's lost and he's every bit the player that McCutchen is," La Russa said. "They're in contention, but that makes no difference. There's a big difference between getting hit here [in the hands] and getting hit here [in the back]. That's why I think it's unfair. I think it will continue to be unfair because I don't think this message will get out. It's not a popular response, so they'll just dismiss it."
Goldschmidt had been putting up MVP-caliber numbers with a team-best .300 batting average and 19 homers while he ranks first in the National League in doubles (39), third in RBI (69), runs (79), total bases (220) and slugging percentage (.542) while ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.396) and fifth in OPS (.938).
McCutchen is an MVP favorite but could miss up to a month. The centerfielder is fourth in the NL with a .311 batting average and 67 RBI. He also ranks second in the league in total bases (221), on-base percentage (.411), and OPS (.947) while his 68 walks pace the NL.
Perhaps one reason for McCutchen's injury causing a bigger stir than Goldschmidt's is because the Pirates (59-53) are in third place in the NL Central, just 2.5 games behind the first place Milwaukee Brewers while the Diamondbacks (49-64) trail the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by 14.5 games.
Both teams have lost their MVPs for a significant amount of time after a crazy series that saw the teams split by winning two games apiece.
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