Joe Maddon picks side in Shohei Ohtani-Dalton Rushing saga: ‘A bad look’
It’s no secret that there has been some tension between the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing. But could it be a bit overblown?
Joe Maddon, Ohtani’s former manager, believes it is and called the disconnection between the two “a bad look.”
“The solution to this is [to put] Shohei, Dalton in a room. Pitching coach, manager, sit there, and let’s talk through this. That’s it,” Maddon said during an interview on “Foul Territory.” “It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.”
The frustration between Ohtani and Rushing became public during Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the host Twins when Rushing attempted to wave off Ohtani from challenging pitches that were ruled as balls to strikes in the second inning.
The frustration between the two became even more apparent when the two met on the pitcher’s mound, and Ohtani started to exchange words with Rushing.
It’s unknown what was said exactly, but Ohtani was visibly upset while speaking to Rushing, who nodded his head to the four-time MVP.
During the interview on “Foul Territory,” Maddon gave Rushing some advice and insinuated to let Ohtani be on the mound, and that he knows what he’s doing. Maddon referred back to a story when he was Ohtani’s manager with the Angels.
During a game against the Athletics, Maddon asked Ohtani to walk Matt Olson, but Ohtani waved him off. After the game, he said he looked back at his numbers against Olson and found out that Ohtani had struck him out 10 of 14 times.
“Shohei knows what he’s doing,” Maddon said. “It makes the catcher’s job easier, just follow him. I would get them in a room and talk about it very matter-of-factly.”
Maddon said the Ohtani-Rushing situation was blown out of proportion and also compared it to the Giants’ Rafael Devers not wanting to leave Sunday’s game for a pinch-runner in the ninth inning and the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm taking the field with a blowpop in his mouth.
“Shohei needs to be in charge of the situation; he’s very good at it,” Maddon said. “… A lot of these things are just a product of social media.”
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