Tommy Pham was scratched from the Cincinnati Reds lineup before Friday’s game because of a pregame altercation with San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson.
During batting practice, Pham slapped Pederson across the face over a dispute stemming from their fantasy football league, Pederson said. The Reds’ bullpen cleared into left field, where Pham allegedly slapped Pederson, and Reds hitters ran from the batting cage to the outfield.
“There was no real argument,” Pederson told reporters. “He came up and said, ‘you remember from last year?’ I was like, ‘fantasy football?’ He was like, ‘yeah.’ Then, yeah.”
The entire incident didn’t last longer than a couple of minutes and Reds manager David Bell remained in the outfield to chat with Pham after players returned to their usual pregame activities.
“MLB is investigating the incident that occurred before the game involving Mr. Pham,” the Reds announced. “Mr. Pham agreed to not play (Friday) pending the results of MLB’s investigation.”
Pham declined to discuss the incident publicly when he walked off the field after batting practice and he was not available following Friday’s game.
Pederson walked off the field after he was slapped. There were no punches thrown after the incident.
“There was a decent amount of people around and I didn’t get emotional – I don’t think violence is the answer, I guess you could say, so I left the situation,” Pederson said. “Some other players were out there when the benches cleared,…
