McCatty perplexed by Saturday's ejection
Nationals pitching coach says he did not challenge balls and strikes
SAN FRANCISCO -- Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty, normally a mild-mannered man, was ejected by home-plate umpire Corey Blaser on Saturday night in the bottom of the third inning of a 12-6 loss to the Giants. It was the first time since 1984 that McCatty was ejected from a game.
The Giants had the bases loaded when McCatty came out to talk to left-hander Gio Gonzalez. After talking to Gonzalez for about a minute, McCatty was on his way back to the dugout when Blaser ejected the pitching coach. Manager Matt Williams then talked to Blaser, to no avail.
McCatty wouldn't go into details on what happened between him and Blaser, but the coach said he didn't say anything derogatory until after he was ejected.
"I never challenged the balls and strikes," McCatty said. "If he thought I said something, I didn't challenge his calls. I was surprised."
Since the All-Star break, Washington's pitching staff has not performed well, going 10-19 with a 4.39 ERA. McCatty acknowledged that he is concerned about his pitchers.
Everybody is pressing, everybody is trying hard," McCatty said. "[Even] when we are pitching great, I'm always concerned. Do I feel like we are falling off the face of the planet? No. These guys are like a team. They are going to give up some hits and momentum plays a lot. … We go out there, we battle. But we do that when things are going good. Because things are tough, I'm not going to quit. You know I'm concerned when things are going good. That's the life of a pitching coach."