Cubs' Seiya Suzuki Strikes Out On Pitch-Clock Violation After Hitting Foul Ball Off Crotch
Talk about insult to injury.
Seiya Suzuki's first at-bat during the Chicago Cubs' 12-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday was as unique and painful as one could ever imagine.
Sitting on a 3-1 count, the Cubs' star fouled off a slider from Kansas City's Noah Cameron. In real time, it looked like a routine foul where the baseball hits off of the dirt, and then off of Suzuki's leg before rolling just outside the batter's box.
The slow-motion replay showed that the foul ball didn't bounce off of Suzuki's leg, but instead of of the dirt and then directly into his crotch. You'll notice Suzuki reacts accordingly.
Taking a foul ball off your groin is painful enough, but the situation got even worse for the 30-year-old.
Suzuki understandably took a bit of time to collect himself and get back into the batter's box, but when he did the pitch clock had expired, and home plate umpire Clint Vondrak called him for a pitch-clock violation, a third strike, and the inning was over.
Suzuki didn't take issue with the umpire's call, but Chicago manager Craig Consell certainly did. After sharing some words with the umpire, he gestured toward his own groin area while stating the case that Suzuki deserved some extra time, seeing as how he just fouled a ball off of the one place no player ever wants to.
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The argument against Suzuki's case is that he never signaled for a timeout so he could regroup, but I think most would agree that a player who just took a baseball off the crotch shouldn't have to.
Maybe Vondrak completely missed the fact that the baseball hit Suzuki in a sensitive area, but he should've known something wasn't exactly right when the hitter was jumping up and down in pain outside of the batter's box and taking his time before stepping back in.