Report: MLB reviewing Rizzo's collision with Padres' Hedges
Major League Baseball chief baseball officer Joe Torre is reportedly reviewing Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo's controversial home-plate collision with San Diego Padres catcher Austin Hedges during Monday night's game, sources told Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the league has already informed both Rizzo and the Cubs that the play violated Rule 7.13 - aka the "Buster Posey Rule" - which bans home-plate collisions. Still, it's not guaranteed that Rizzo will face any sort of discipline; that's ultimately up to Torre, per Sherman.
Rizzo collided with Hedges while attempting to score on a fly ball in the sixth inning during Monday's game. Hedges held on to the ball and Rizzo was called out, but was in obvious pain afterward and left the game one inning later.
VIDEO: @ARizzo44 is out running over @Pades C Austin Hedges, who is later removed from the game due to injury sustained in this collision. pic.twitter.com/Oeucyz0ZTC
— Billy Krumb (@ClubhouseCancer) June 20, 2017
"I think it's a cheap shot," Padres manager Andy Green told reporters postgame. "I'm not saying he's a dirty player at all. No one is saying that. He clearly deviated from his path to hit our catcher and took our catcher out. The rule exists to protect him. It's a disheartening play."
Rizzo, for his part, said that he did not think the slide was dirty.
Rule 7.13 was put in place by MLB for the 2014 season after Posey, the Giants' All-Star catcher, suffered a broken leg in a home-plate collision in 2011. The rule makes a collision with the catcher illegal, but has been the subject of criticism at times since its inception.
MLB has never suspended a player for a violation of the rule, according to Rosenthal.