Did former Padres pitcher take shot at SD on Instagram after joining Dodgers?

For the 2021 and 2022 seasons, one of the more unsung heroes in the San Diego Padres' bullpen was Nabil Crismatt. After San Diego signed Crismatt to a minor-league deal for the 2021 season, he rewarded their faith in him by posting a 3.39 ERA across 95 appearances the next two seasons with 136 strikeouts in 148.2 innings of work.

Unfortunately, the 2023 season was not nearly as kind. Crismatt dealt with a hip injury that put him on the shelf, and when he did pitch, it did not go well as he posted a 9.82 ERA in seven appearances before being designated for assignment. Luckily for him, the Dodgers saw something they liked and signed him to a minor-league deal this offseason.

Most of the time, a fringe guy getting a minor-league deal elsewhere wouldn't be newsworthy. However, in a recent Instagram post, Crismatt inexplicably seemed to take a shot at the Padres while saying "Nice to be in blue now."

Was Nabil Crismatt sending a message about his time with the Padres?

In reality, Crismatt was probably just trying to express his excitement about being a Dodger. As painful as it is to admit, the Dodgers are a fantastic baseball team that's absolutely loaded with talent, so him getting an opportunity to play for them should be legitimately exciting.

That said, this situation certainly feels weird. Crismatt finally got his opportunity to play regularly in the big leagues thanks to the Padres and he got to reap the rewards of an exciting stretch of baseball in San Diego. During that time, the rivalry with the Dodgers intensified, and it was obvious how much Padres fans and Dodgers fans hated each other. He would still be a Padre if he was performing and healthy, so taking a shot at them on the first day of spring training seems to be in poor taste.

Again, the more likely scenario was that Crismatt was just jacked to take the field with LA. One hopes that that is all it was and not indicative of some unknown discord behind the scenes in San Diego.

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