Clayton Kershaw curse is real for the Padres, Christian Walkers ejection explained

May 16, 2024

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Between the umpires in Arizona, the Bryce-Harper-led benches clearing in Denver, and the [motions generally at the Dodgers and Padres], there is drama in the NL West. On the serene polar opposite side of things is the AL East, where almost everyone seems to be doing just fine. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

Instant karma’s gonna get you

It was not so long ago — May 5, in fact — that the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and posted a meme on the big screen of Clayton Kershaw crying. The Dodgers got the last laugh in that series, coming back to win the next two games.

#Padres put a crying Clayton Kershaw photo onto the Jumbotron after the win: https://t.co/2sj8QX1EzF

— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) May 6, 2023

But it didn’t end there. When the Padres won that game on May 5, they pulled to within a half-game of first place in the NL West. But in the eight games since that meme was posted on the big screen in San Diego, the Dodgers are 7-1 and now have the best record in the NL. The Padres are 1-7 — including a Dodgers sweep over the weekend.

The Dodgers are up by three games in the division … over the Diamondbacks. The Padres are in third place, seven games out of first. As Ken writes here, the vibes — at least for now — decidedly favor the Dodgers.

Kershaw, by the way, keeps rolling. After that early exit in San Diego (he gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings), the 35-year-old recovered nicely against the Brewers on Wednesday, going seven innings of one-run ball to lower his season ERA to 2.36. He’ll take on the AL Central-leading Twins on Tuesday in a series that starts tonight.

Ken’s Corner: Ump show? Or legit ejection?

The ejection appeared to be just another in a long line of “ump show” absurdities. Plate umpire Alfonso Márquez ejected Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker on Friday night for … clapping?

That was the end result, at least. In the umpires’ view, it wasn’t quite so simple.

With the Diamondbacks and Giants tied 4-4 in the fifth inning, Walker grew upset when Márquez called strike two against him and then when first base umpire Ramon De Jesus ruled against him on a check-swing appeal for strike three. Walker walked away shaking his head, gesturing repeatedly and occasionally turning back toward the field to mouth a few words of protest.

Rule 9.02 forbids players, managers and coaches from objecting to “any umpire’s decision which involves judgment,” including ball-strike calls. But Márquez did not view Walker’s conduct as worthy of an ejection.

The following inning, when De Jesus ruled in the Diamondbacks’ favor on a checked swing by Nick Ahmed, Walker clapped visibly, and seemingly sarcastically, from the top step of the dugout. At that point, Márquez ejected him, and Walker reacted incredulously, raising both his arms and then putting both hands on his head.

Walker later told the Arizona Republic that he assumed his body language from the previous inning caused the umpires to pay extra attention to him.

“Let’s be honest about it. It was an intentful clap, but I didn’t say anything,” Walker said. “So I thought that was my way of not getting tossed. Yeah, I’m kind of speechless to be honest.”

The umpires described the dispute as more prolonged, and relayed their account to Major League Baseball after The Athletic requested an explanation for Walker’s ejection.

According to the umps, in addition to gesturing while making comments toward both Márquez and De Jesus, Walker yelled additional remarks while walking down the steps of the dugout and slammed his bat.

He then continued gesturing and making comments upon returning to the field for the top of the sixth, at which point second base umpire Doug Eddings raised the matter with the Diamondbacks.

Walker’s clapping, the umps said, occurred in the bottom half of the inning, and started even before the check swing on Ahmed, drawing Márquez’s attention. Márquez believed Walker was showing up the umpires, but ejected him only after De Jesus ruled in Ahmed’s favor on the check swing, prompting Walker to resume his mock applause.

In the end, Márquez determined Walker doth protest too much.

Just keep walking

It was quite a scene in Denver. With two outs in the seventh inning, and the Rockies leading 4-0, the Phillies had two runners on base, meaning the potential tying run was in the on-deck circle. Rockies reliever Jake Bird got Bryson Stott to fly out to end the inning, and — in the opinion of Bryce Harper — crossed the line between celebrating and taunting.

I mean, Bird did maybe sort of stick his tongue out, so sure, it’s fair to wonder where the line is.

Bryce Harper went at it with Rockies pitcher Jake Bird and both teams got into a scrum pic.twitter.com/zyBAml3VWg

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 14, 2023

At any rate, Harper absolutely lost it, and in short order there was an impromptu conference near home plate where everyone came to shout their opinions at one another. At one point, if my lipreading can be trusted, Harper appeared to say, “You’re a loser f—ing organization. Every single one of you,” which is objectively funny.

Making it slightly more funny is the fact that the Rockies employ Mike Moustakas and Harper’s friend Kris Bryant. Moustakas won the World Series in 2015 with the Royals, and Bryant did so the following year with the Cubs.

But to Harper’s credit, I guess neither did so as a member of the Rockies.

Oh, and Colorado won the game, 4-0.

Speaking of the Rockies, they’re the latest team dealing with injuries to its rotation. Antonio Senzatela is on the IL with an elbow injury, and Ryan Feltner suffered a fractured skull in a horrifying scene on Saturday when a Nick Castellanos comebacker struck his head. (Don’t worry, that link doesn’t have video).

Feltner is still in a Denver-area hospital but is not expected to require surgery.

We gonna do what they say can’t be done

The Yankees entered the weekend in last place in the AL East. But they were also the first team just under the line in the standings that indicates who’s a wild-card team and who’s on the outside looking in.

As of this morning — thanks in part to the Red Sox being swept by the Cardinals — neither of those things is still true. The Yankees are now a half-game out of the division cellar and a half-game up in the wild-card standings.

Is it too early to be talking about wild-card standings? Sure. But it’s notable that all three teams currently holding a wild-card position in the AL are from the same division. If the playoffs started today, the AL bracket would be made up of the Rangers, Twins, and the entire AL East, except for the Red Sox.

Over in the NL, it’s a bit more balanced. After the Dodgers, Brewers and Braves, the wild-card standings include one team from each division: the Diamondbacks, Pirates and Phillies.

Handshakes and High Fives

Brendan Kuty got an exclusive one-on-one with Mariano Rivera, who spoke highly of Yankees reliever Clay Holmes. Holmes has recovered nicely after a high-leverage blown save on May 1, allowing just one run in his past six appearances.

Eury Pérez debuted for the Marlins on Friday night, and while it wasn’t a particularly long outing, he flashed brilliance at times, striking out seven Reds in 4 2/3 innings. He also allowed two runs, both on solo home runs.

The Rockies aren’t alone; injuries keep coming for the Rays, too. This one is particularly discouraging. Drew Rasmussen, who has already had two Tommy John surgeries, is going on the 60-day IL with a flexor strain. That injury results in TJ surgery about 20 percent of the time, and the list of players who have come back from a third Tommy John procedure is perilously short.

Freddie Freeman’s 300th home run is right around the corner. He took a pop quiz on a few other milestone homers from his career.

Max Scherzer isn’t toast after all. He only lasted five innings against the Nats on Sunday but struck out six, walked two, and allowed just one run in the Mets’ 8-2 win.

Zach Buchanan has a really touching story about Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson and his time spent as the youngest of four baseball-loving brothers.

Stephen J. Nesbitt and I are back with another episode of On Deck, discussing the Rays and this week’s biggest matchups around the league.

(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

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