Carlos Rodón didn’t waste many words when asked about the backlash over comments made Sunday by Red Sox radio broadcaster Will Flemmings.
“Pitch better,” Rodón told The Athletic after the Yankees’ 16-1 win on Sunday.
Rodón followed that up with a blunt defense of the Yankees’ approach and a reminder of how he sees the game.
“This is not the pat-on-your-back league, and we’re going to be nice to you. Everyone’s coming to take the food off your table, and they’re coming to take your money.
That’s how this game is played. There are no nice guys.”
Flemmings apologized Monday after saying Boston pitcher Jovani Morán should drill catcher Austin Wells and spark a fight with second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. He said he believed Chisholm was a “bush league player” who “doesn’t play the game the right way.”
The Yankees were still bothered by the remarks even after the apology.
“He needs to stay out of that and not be telling people to throw at players and injure players,” Aaron Judge told The Athletic. “That’s not what this game’s about.
“Not too happy hearing broadcasters talking about trying to injure or hurt players. He needs to clean that up.”
The on-field moment that helped fuel the conversation came when Chisholm Jr. stole second and third in the seventh inning with the Yankees ahead 7-1, and the Red Sox did not hold the runner on. Per The Athletic, Boone shouted across the field to Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy that if Boston wasn’t going to keep an eye on the runner, he was going to have Chisholm Jr. run.
Boone defended the move afterward and framed it through the lens of his baseball background.
“I’m an old-school baseball guy,” Boone said. “I’ve been around doing this forever.
I respect some of the unwritten rules. I really do.
I think they’ve evolved and changed some. At the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s right for my team and try not to get so caught up in what the other team’s doing.
I felt like we did the right thing.”
Flemmings apologized to Boone, but he did not reach out directly to Chisholm Jr.
“To be honest with you, I don’t,” Chisholm said.
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