Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was ejected from a midweek win against the San Francisco Giants, and he's still not happy about it.
Anderson was facing Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb in the third inning and down 1-2 in the count. With the pitch clock sitting at 11 seconds, Webb began his delivery although Anderson had not fully settled into his stance.
Chicago's on-field leader stepped out of the box and turned away, but Webb delivered a strike down the middle of the plate. Home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn called Anderson out on strikes, and the fireworks began.
Anderson claimed that he wasn't alert and hadn't looked to Webb ready to take the delivery and accused the Giants hurler of "quick pitching" him.
When Webb later replied "lol" to a tweet from Jomboy Media showing the event, Anderson let loose a reply of his own:
"Ain’t s*** funny.. witcho big head a** lol had me mad af"
While the White Sox won Wednesday's game 7-3, all questions afterward were about the incident between Anderson and Webb.
In the Giants' locker room, Logan Webb defended Tim Anderson in regards to his ejection, telling the San Francisco Chronicle:
"I wasn't trying to quick pitch him, but I guess he took it that way. He yelled at me from the dugout for like five straight pitches. You can probably see what I said, then he was just yelling back at me. I don't necessarily think he should have gotten tossed. I think he was talking to me; he wasn't talking to the umpire."
It was the eighth ejection in the eight-year MLB career for Tim Anderson, who did not make himself available to reporters after the game.
Anderson's manager, Pedro Grifol, spoke to reporters about the incident, saying:
"(Anderson) probably could have called time or whatever, but it didn't happen. And then, when he got in the dugout, it's that passion he's got – that passion and fight for the game. I don't have an issue with it."
Tim Anderson off to solid start to 2023 season
Tim Anderson, a .288 career hitter, is hitting .276 through the first seven games of the 2023 season. The two-time All-Star has spent his entire career on the south side of Chicago after being selected by the White Sox in the first round of the 2013 draft.