Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Aug 9

Braves' Chris Sale Ejected Before 1st Pitch vs Yankees as Balk Dispute Carries Into Sunday

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Aug 9

Braves' Chris Sale Ejected Before 1st Pitch vs Yankees as Balk Dispute Carries Into Sunday

Q: What exactly happened before Sunday's game that caused Chris Sale's unprecedented pregame ejection by the very umpire he clashed with earlier?

Chris Sale was ejected because he began verbally confronting umpire Dan Merzel as the umpiring crew took the field before Sunday’s game, apparently still angry about Saturday’s disputed balk call. The clearest account comes from the AP’s game report: as the umpires walked past the Braves’ third-base dugout, Sale “began barking.” Merzel, now working third base after being behind the plate the previous day, immediately tossed him before a pitch was thrown. Sale then exchanged more words with crew chief Dan Bellino near the dugout rail. There was no formal in-stadium explanation at the moment of the ejection, but all available reporting points to the pregame argument itself — not any on-field action during Sunday’s game — as the trigger. Sale was not scheduled to pitch, making it an unusual disciplinary move and, according to Elias, the first ejection of his career in a game in which he did not appear. The backdrop was Saturday’s flashpoint, when Merzel called a balk on Sale for failing, as a “hybrid pitcher,” to re-declare he was pitching from the windup with a runner on third. That ruling allowed a run to score and led to a heated argument involving both Sale and Braves manager Walt Weiss, who was ejected. Sunday’s pregame confrontation appears to have been a direct continuation of that dispute.

Q: Why was a 16-year veteran suddenly penalized for a pitching stance declaration rule he allegedly never had to follow before?

Chris Sale was penalized because the umpiring crew treated him as a “hybrid pitcher,” a category MLB says must clearly declare when pitching from the windup with runners on base. Crew chief Dan Bellino said Sale properly declared for the previous batter, José Caballero, but did not redeclare before Austin Wells, so when Merzel saw a leg movement before any declaration, he ruled a balk. The dispute is not that the rule suddenly appeared; it is that it was enforced in a way Sale and the Braves say he had never experienced in 16 seasons. Bellino’s explanation was that traditional windup or stretch pitchers do not need to announce their stance, but hybrid pitchers do because their initial foot placement does not make the delivery obvious. In the crew’s view, the declaration must be clear each batter and cannot be assumed from the previous hitter. Atlanta’s side is that this was an unusually strict interpretation. Manager Walt Weiss said Sale has “never” had to inform an umpire batter by batter, and catcher Drake Baldwin said he had rarely, if ever, seen that requirement applied to Sale before. That suggests the issue was less a new rule than inconsistent enforcement or a difference in how this crew interpreted the declaration requirement. So the answer is that Sale was not suddenly subjected to a brand-new standard; he was hit with a rarely noticed or rarely enforced hybrid-pitcher declaration rule, applied here on a batter-by-batter basis.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 9

Chris Sale was tossed before Sunday’s first pitch at Yankee Stadium after an intense dugout argument with plate umpire Dan Bellino, with third-base umpire Dan Merzel signaling the ejection.
Saturday’s 5-4 Braves loss set up the confrontation: Merzel called a balk on Sale that let Spencer Jones score, after two earlier strikes in the inning were changed to balls.
Walt Weiss, ejected Saturday for arguing that balk, called it a “terrible call” and later had another heated exchange with Bellino behind home plate after the first inning Sunday.
The ejection was Sale’s fourth career toss and his first since Aug. 3, 2019—also at Yankee Stadium, when he argued balls and strikes while pitching for Boston.