The Los Angeles Dodgers have had trouble with the Colorado Rockies in their three matchups so far this season, with their division rival taking two of the first three games.
After the Rockies’ first win, Dalton Rushing alluded that there may have been some kind of cheating or sign-stealing after Will Klein allowed two runs on three hits to blow the lead and eventually lose the game.
Rushing did not explicitly accuse the Rockies of cheating, but left open the idea that it could have been happening, via Jack Harris of the California Post:
“I think they had a good game plan as the opposing team, and maybe I pitched into their game plan as far as calling pitches,” said Rushing, the team’s second-year backup catcher. “I’m not 100 percent sure. I think it’s odd that some of those hitters that do what they do, they go up there and they’re on the first pitch that was thrown. So it’s a little fishy, but I’ll wear it.”
When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about that, he disagreed with Rushing’s comments. Instead, Roberts pointed out the poorly-located pitches as the reason for the Rockies’ success against his club:
“I saw some bad breaking balls,” he said when asked about Rushing’s comments Sunday. “So, I don’t think there was anything fishy behind it. I think there were some bad pitches.”
Rushing’s comments are all the more confusing, considering the Rockies swing at the first pitch more than any team in baseball. Instead, it looked like an aggressive team swinging at pitches early that caught too much of the zone.
Generally, Rushing is one of the most thoughtful players on the team with his answers, but it seems frustration took over for the young backstop in this instance. Now, he can use this as a learning opportunity to see what went wrong in the outing, and be a little more careful with his comments in the future.
Dalton Rushing wanted Ryan Ward to start
When the Dodgers placed Freddie Freeman on paternity leave, the club called up Ryan Ward for his long-awaited promotion to the Majors after spending parts of seven years in the Minor Leagues.
With right-hander Michael Lorenzen on the mound for the Rockies, the Dodgers were originally planning to use Dalton Rushing at first base. However, the 25-year-old volunteered to give his start to Ward so he could get immediate playing time.
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