The Reds are upset with Padres hitter Luke Voit for his collision on home plate that left Cincinnati catcher Tyler Stephenson with a concussion Tuesday night in San Diego.
“The way his hands were beating him was dirty,” Reds outfielder Tommy Pham told reporters. “I don’t like it at all. The manner [Voit’s] hit hands [Stephenson] It was dirty on the face.
“If Luke wants to work it out, I’ll be fine. Anything – Muay Thai, whatever. I have a [gym] Owner here who lets me use his facility.”
Voit slammed into Stephenson while attempting to score from Jurickson Profar’s first double. As he climbed into his chute, Voit raised his arms, then forcefully pressed them against Stephenson’s head as he landed.
Stephenson held the ball for the out but stayed on the ground for several minutes. He was able to go to the dugout but did not return to the game.
“I didn’t have a problem with the slide,” Reds manager David Bell told reporters. “But it’s a helpless feeling when one of your players gets hit in the head and they’re down. It’s scary for me.”
The 255-pound Voit said he tried to avoid Stephenson but admitted his elbow “smoked his head a bit”.
“I wasn’t trying to turn him off or anything,” Voit said. “I think my elbow smoked his head a bit. Hope he’s fine, no hard feelings. It’s baseball. I wasn’t trying to get it dirty or anything. I’m just trying to make a game obviously. “
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The Reds questioned the call, but the umpires ruled Voit’s chute was clean.
“In the end, it didn’t hurt us because we didn’t need the challenge,” Bell said. “I thought it might have been an illegal slide. That doesn’t mean that Voit did it on purpose.”
“The ball puts it right into Luke,” added Padres manager Bob Melvin. “There’s nowhere to go and I think Luke was just trying to protect himself by putting his hands up. I think they got it right.”
However, Stephenson’s teammates disagreed with managers.
“Looking back at the replay, I’m not too happy about the slide,” Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer said. “It’s not too often you see a runner slipping and grabbing someone’s head and slamming them to the ground. Usually you try to reach for the bag. Maybe he tried that. After watching the replay, what appeared to be a wrestling move to Tyler’s head snapped him off.
“I’ve caught before, and it’s a scary game, especially when a big guy like Voit comes down. I’ve never seen anyone put their hands to a catcher’s head on a slide.”
Stephenson was placed on concussion protocol after the game, which will keep him out of the lineup for at least seven days. Bell said Stephenson, 25, “appears to be doing fine” but acknowledged the team were concerned about the third-year catcher.
Pham, a former Padre and Voit’s former St. Louis Cardinals teammate, reiterated his offer to “fix” the situation with Voit at a local gym.
“I don’t like everything,” Pham said. “They can say whatever they want. Everyone on this side – they know I’m coming down. I know a place around here, I know an owner who lets me use his gym if we need to sort something out. … This piece was dirty.”
The Reds, who have lost eight straight games, and the Padres will wrap up their three-game streak Wednesday afternoon in San Diego before meeting again for a three-game streak in Cincinnati next week.