Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto was caught on camera rolling his eyes during a pitching change Friday night against the New York Mets, but his gesture wasn't directed toward teammate Jared Hughes.
Realmuto hates this bullpen with a passion pic.twitter.com/4ajfswT23U
— Wentzylvania 🅦 (@Folesylvania) August 31, 2019
TV cameras showed Realmuto rolling his eyes as the right-hander lumbered to the mound during the eighth inning of an eventual 11-5 loss.
The video went viral online, but Realmuto said on Saturday there was nothing to it.
"It was very bad timing," Realmuto said before an afternoon game against the Mets, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "Nothing was really going on. I was mad that we had just given up the lead, and (Amed) Rosario’s soft, two-run single. Like, that’s what I was frustrated about.
"It had nothing to do with Jared running into the game," he added. "I had to explain it to him as well. He knew. He was just laughing it off. It was terrible timing. I’ve seen some people online saying that I was mad at something that (manager) Gabe (Kapler) had just said. That was also not the case. It was 100% to do with the fact that we just gave up the lead."
Philadelphia's bullpen allowed 10 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings on Friday after starter Aaron Nola exited.
