Nationals manager stokes flames with Padres drama after ridiculous commentary

By now, most San Diego Padres fans are well aware of the drama that took place between Jurickson Profar and the Washington Nationals.

Profar had a big walk-off hit against Washington earlier this week and made sure they knew they shouldn't have walked Luis Arraez to pitch to him. The Nationals got their feelings hurt, Keibert Ruiz decided to confront Profar as he came to bat the next day, the benches cleared, and Profar got hit by a pitch without any repercussions after the chaos.

One hoped that the whole saga was over and done with, but sadly that was not the case.

When Nationals manager Davey Martinez was asked about the whole situation, he had some inflammatory comments regarding the Nationals' side of the drama.

Nationals manager's comments sounded worse than they were, but still missed the mark

Just to be clear, Talkin' Baseball got it wrong here in the sense that Martinez wasn't responding to a question about Profar getting hit by a pitch here. He was saying that Ruiz confronting Profar at home plate was a good way to send a message, not hitting him with a pitch. Fans and journalists alike made sure to point this out a lot on social media and it is important to understand the full and correct context here.

That said, Martinez and the Nationals are still in the wrong here. Profar was celebrating a walk-off hit and maybe doing a little bit of trash talking in the process. If you don't like it, don't choose to pitch to a team's best hitter. And if you do, get the guy out. If you feel like clearing the air, do so through backchannels before the game starts. There is no world where Ruiz confronting Profar as he approached home plate (and putting his hands on him!) was going to do anything other than escalate the situation on the spot.

While there is a debate to have about Mackenzie Gore's intent with the HBP. The Nationals maintain it was an errant breaking ball when, in reality, it was a 98 MPH fastball that hit Profar on his back foot. However, the Nationals clearly have a chip on their shoulder (presumably from being an also-ran in the the NL East for the last five seasons) which, in a weird way, is something Profar can relate to as well.

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