SAN DIEGO – Let’s be clear: The Nationals did not intentionally hit Jurickson Profar during Tuesday’s game, nor did manager Davey Martinez imply they did in his postgame conference.
Keibert Ruiz did confront Profar before his first at-bat, leading to both benches clearing. MacKenzie Gore then hit Profar with his first pitch, but it struck Profar’s back foot, an unlikely target for intentional hits.
Martinez expressed pride in Ruiz for handling the situation through conversation rather than physical retaliation. Despite some social media misinformation suggesting otherwise, Martinez’s comments were taken out of context.
Here’s the actual exchange:
Reporter 1: “Did you anticipate that something like that in the first inning could or would happen?”
Martinez: “I didn’t anticipate anything. But like I said, it happened. The boys fired up… Sometimes you gotta learn how to play like that… We’ll get them tomorrow.”
Reporter 2: “Keibert being the catcher signed to a long contract extension, how do you view his role on the team?”
Martinez: “Hey, he felt like he needed to say something. Honestly, I was proud of him… I liked the fact that he stuck up for our guys. and so be it.”
Reporter 1: “When you talk about being proud of him, is there anything about him in particular, him being the one to stand up, that fills you with any more pride?”
Martinez: “Nah. Any one of the guys that steps up like that is awesome… For me, it was a good way to send a message… we’re not going to tolerate that.”
Reporter 1: “When you say ‘not tolerate that,’ can you walk through specifically?”
Martinez: “I’ll just leave it at that.”
Martinez, Gore, and Ruiz all denied any intention of hitting Profar. Ruiz even told Profar as much during their conversation.
Reporter 3: “After waiting around in their first inning, MacKenzie’s first pitch to Profar hits him in the back foot. Were you worried at all that he would get ejected for that?”
Martinez: “No… He hit him with a breaking ball, so he was just trying to get the ball down.”
While Gore did not actually hit Profar with a breaking ball (MLB Gameday tracked it as a 98 mph fastball), he explained:
Reporter 3: “Your first pitch to Profar unintentionally hits him in the back foot. Is that kind of a product of you just kind of having to sit around for a little bit without being able to keep warming up?”
Gore: “Yeah, and then it was like, ‘Uh oh,’ just because that happened right after everything… But nothing happened, which was great.”
Reporter 1: “When you hit him, it looked like you grimaced. Did you think that you were gonna get ejected? What was kinda your thought process?”
Gore: “I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure.”
Ruiz on his conversation with Profar:
Reporter 3: “Keibert, can you walk us through what happened between you and Profar tonight?”
Ruiz: “It was nothing crazy. We were just having a conversation about what he did yesterday… We don’t want to hit him because that’s bad for him. He’s having a good season… Just letting you know that what you did yesterday wasn’t appreciated.”
Reporter 1: “I’m curious, when you say you had to let him know, you said ‘respect,’ I’m curious, can you walk us through the contents of maybe what he said back to you?”
Ruiz: “He didn’t agree. He said, ‘Hey, if you want to hit me, hit me.’ But I said, ‘Hey, we don’t want to hit you. Just letting you know that what you did yesterday wasn’t appreciated.’ That was it.”
Reporter 1: “Did you plan to have a conversation with him coming into the game or did it just kind of happen in that moment?”
Ruiz: “Yeah, just in the moment… The emotion, the adrenaline, this ballpark get you excited…”
Nothing more should be made of what happened or what was said after the game.
Both teams hope to move forward, but with one game left, there may still be fireworks. However, as Ildemaro Vargas told D.C. media members this morning: “Everything is fine.”
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