Umpire Explanation For Walker Buehler Ejection Only Makes Things Worse

Red Sox pitcher Walker Buehler isn’t buying the explanation for his Tuesday night ejection.

Buehler’s first start in almost a month didn’t last long. The veteran right-hander lasted just 2 1/3 innings in his first appearance since April 26, but it wasn’t because of performance. Buehler headed to an early shower after home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ejected him for arguing balls and strikes.

Seconds after Buehler got the heave-ho, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was also sent packing for a fiery defense of Buehler. The Red Sox picked up both, as the bullpen gave its best performance of the season en route to a 2-0 win.

However, Buehler’s ejection was the story of the game during and after. MLB made crew chief Laz Diaz available for comment after the game, where the veteran umpire explained why Estabrook ran Buehler.

“He can say stuff from the mound. But once he comes off the mound, he’s leaving his position to argue balls and strikes,” Diaz told a pool reporter, as relayed by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Once anybody leaves their position to argue balls and strikes, that’s an immediate ejection.”

Buehler wasn’t buying that.

“Who cut the distance?” Buehler replied in a tweet of his own to Cotillo’s tweet.

And Buehler certainly has a point. At best, Estabrook did nothing to diffuse the situation (after completely botching the call). At worst, he provoked Buehler, removing his mask to shout back at the pitcher.

SNY actually had a camera on Estabrook’s mask during the interaction. Buehler can be heard hollering from the mound, “It was right down the middle!” at Estabrook. At that point, Estabrook took off the mask and came out from behind the plate to confront Buehler.

To Buehler’s point, there’s simply no arguing that Estabrook was the one who escalated the confrontation, all while Buehler stood on the mound, as seen on the NESN telecast.

NESN’s Lou Merloni, a former big leaguer, made a compelling case for the player’s side of things.

“When the mask comes off, you’re very confrontational,” Merloni said on the broadcast. “Walker Buehler has been in the league a while. You know you missed a pitch. He has something to say to you from the rubber. That’s fine. But when the mask comes off, and you’re aggressively coming at him, it’s very combative. You’re escalating it.”

Going back to the Diaz explanation, it’s kind of hard to believe he could say as much with a straight face. The entire reason for ejecting Buehler, according to him, was that Buehler left the mound. That’s just not true, for starters. At least not until Estabrook provoked Buehler, which one could argue should never happen — especially with an eight-year MLB veteran in his first start back from injury.

Ultimately, it didn’t totally matter. It’s unfortunate for Buehler and the Red Sox that his return from a shoulder issue was cut short. That might make for some tricky timelines moving forward, and it just adds to the annoyingness of the situation.

But as Buehler also noted on social media, the Red Sox bullpen picked him up in a big way, and Boston came away with the win, which is all that matters.