ATLANTA — Moments after Marcell Ozuna uncorked his vicious swing, no one looked at where the ball had landed. Not because the Braves’ designated hitter had snagged on a Gavin Stone fastball, but because the barrel of his bat swung around and struck Dodgers catcher Will Smith in the side of the head on his fourth-inning flyout.
The ensuing verbal spat and near-bench confrontation still had some suspense a day after the Dodgers’ 8-6 win over the Braves at Truist Park Monday night, with the typically mild-mannered Smith venting his irritation has admitted to expressing about Ozuna is a general trend – his powerful cut and extended upper-hand release has led to many catchers throwing an unexpected shot.
“I was just angry,” Smith said Monday night after confronting Ozuna after the bat, and again just before Ozuna’s next bat in the sixth inning before home plate umpire Alan Porter intervened.
“He hit me in the head pretty hard with his bat. It’s not the first time he’s done this to me. He’s done it to other catchers in the league. I just felt like there would come a point when I had to say something. Things got a little heated at the moment. It’s something he doesn’t do on purpose. But (if) you do it often enough, you’d think he’d fix it.”
Smith, who was out two weeks earlier this season with a concussion, noted it was a particularly touchy subject for him given his recent injury. He was back in the Dodgers’ lineup and behind the plate for Tuesday night’s contest.
“He’s certainly rightly sensitive to that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Smith.
Ozuna insisted it was an accident and said Smith wasn’t the only catcher to accidentally catch a barrel, including his current teammate Sean Murphy, former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, current Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras and Smith’s teammate Austin Barnes (Barnes). confirmed on Tuesday that he had previously borne the brunt of an ozuna backswing). Before Monday’s game was over, footage resurfaced showing Ozuna had caught Smith with a similar shot in a groundout at Dodger Stadium last season.
Ozuna said he apologized at the moment at the Dodgers’ backstop (although Smith denied this Monday night). But the 32-year-old slugger’s anger stemmed from Smith’s reaction when he said the catcher “showed me here in front of everyone”.
“He said, ‘No, you have to fix it,'” Ozuna said. “I said, ‘I need to fix it, why?’ You want me to change my mechanics? If you’re throwing an inside throw and trying to steal a shot, what should I do? I’ll swing like that.’”
“He doesn’t want that,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “The last thing he wants to do is try to hurt anyone.”
Ozuna recommended Smith move further into the penalty area to protect himself. He said other catchers have done this in the past when they noticed how far back he goes with his swing — and Snitker noted that Sal Fasano, Atlanta’s catching coach, recommended him for faceting guys like Ozuna with longer swings .
“Rather than getting hit, we just move them back,” Snitker said.
Barnes, who like Smith lines up near the opposing batsman to help him set up shots for shots, said some opposing batsmen warned him in advance that their swing could be in a danger zone. Another consideration, Barnes said, is not only getting caught on the backswing, but also having the catcher interfering with him on the front end.
“It just sucks,” Barnes said. “You know, it’s a bat and you swing it pretty hard. … I don’t think he does it on purpose, but getting a hit on the head is never fun either.”
After Tuesday’s game, which the Dodgers won 8-1, Smith told reporters that he and Ozuna “got over it.” When asked if he retired during the game, Smith said, “Yes, I was way behind.”
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(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)