Yankees: Rays hitting Luke Voit raises questions about Kevin Cash’s whining

Remember last year when Masahiro Tanaka hit Joey Wendle with a 92 MPH fastball in the first inning of a random regular season game and Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash claimed it was intentional? In fact, he said it was “as clear as day.”

What?

Then the New York Yankees really escalated things when closer Aroldis Chapman threw a blistering fastball over Mike Brosseau’s head. That prompted Cash to incessantly whine after the game, claiming he had a “stable of guys who throw 98 MPH,” seemingly threatening the Yankees for their actions … while calling them unprofessional.

At the end of the rant, he said “somebody has to tell me who’s hit who more” and that there hasn’t been a single pitch thrown with intent by any of his guys ever since Andrew Kittredge nearly decapitated catcher Austin Romine.

Regardless of who’s hit who more, the Rays have had a rich history of going up and in to Yankees hitters over the last few years. That much is factual.

After crying earlier this year about three of their batters getting hit in three straight games (whoops!), the Rays managed to hit Luke Voit on the hand in his first game of 2021 on Tuesday after missing the start of the season due to knee surgery.

Funny how it’s sarcastically deemed a “coincidence” when your guys get hit, but Voit’s second at-bat of the year features a beanball?

Did we mention the FIRST pitch of the game was up and in on DJ LeMahieu?

We can’t help but count after the Rays have done their best to make the entire world know that they’ve been mistreated in the batter’s box by their division rival.

All in all, it’s probably most reasonable to assume that hitters will get thrown to inside during a given baseball game. In fact, there was a report from Tuesday suggesting pitchers in the modern game are becoming less and less accurate.

It’s scary, we get it. It’s uncomfortable for everyone, though!

Just because tensions are naturally higher in these matchups doesn’t mean every pitch is whizzing by with intent. And if that’s what you want to assume, then we’d love to know why Luis Patiño decided to buzz LeMahieu and Voit.

Yankees: Kevin Cash’s new take on 2020 brushbacks is wildly off base

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash really can't let the New York Yankees' brushback pitches from 2020 go, and is still mad at Chapman and Tanaka.