DENVER -- Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was ejected from Friday’s series-opening 7-6 victory over the Rockies after arguing with home-plate umpire Doug Eddings regarding comments the umpire made to rookie Hancel Rincon about the way he was wearing his cap.
Rincon was making his Major League debut in the sixth inning of a game the Cardinals led 4-1. According to Eddings, one of the Rockies batters asked about the tilt of Rincon’s cap. Eddings did not specify which batter raised the issue.
“The batter said, ‘Hey, can he wear his hat like that?’” Eddings recounted after the game. “I really didn't know, but it was really, really crooked. I asked the catcher to tell him to straighten his hat out, and the pitcher did. Nobody said anything until he gave up a couple runs.”
Reporters from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and MLB.com, who spoke to Eddings after the game, initially reported the issue was raised during Hunter Goodman’s at-bat to lead off the inning, but Goodman clarified on Saturday that he did not raise the issue with Geddings and had no problem with Rincon or his cap.
Video from the game indicates that the exchange between Eddings, catcher Leo Bernal and Rincon did not take place during Goodman’s at-bat.
Rincon said the comment didn’t distract him from his debut and that he didn’t argue with Eddings about his comment.
“I had no idea why he told me to do it,” Rincon said through an interpreter. “It's fine.”
Rincon retired Goodman on a liner to second, then yielded a triple to TJ Rumfield, an inside-the-park home run to Cole Carrigg and a single to Connor Norby before Marmol went to Justin Bruihl to complete the inning, leaving starting pitcher Andre Pallante with a no-decision after five innings of one-run ball in his return from the injured list.
Marmol continued to engage with Eddings after the pitching change, earning a pitch clock violation for Bruihl and, ultimately, an ejection for Marmol, his fourth of the season.
“I had an issue with Doug,” Marmol said, emphasizing that he wasn’t arguing about a challenge made on Rumfield’s triple. “Just Doug. He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher the kid's ‘not going to wear his hat on my field that way.’ You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop -- plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted. I have an issue with that. That's just a power-hungry move, in my opinion."
Eddings admitted that Rincon wasn’t breaking a rule, but he maintained it was appropriate for him to give what Marmol called “a directive,” as opposed to advice.
“It's not [a rule],” Eddings said. “I guess it's a little unwritten rule. They can't wear [their cap] backwards like a catcher. If it's a distraction, like anything on the field, like a glove or something, and someone makes you aware of it, then you kind of address that.”
The Cardinals trailed until the ninth inning, when Iván Herrera took advantage of a throwing error in the previous at-bat and knocked a Statcast-projected 430-foot homer to center for the final score of 7-6.