Cardinals catchers respond to Dodger Max Muncy claim they 'bullied' umps: Cardinals Extra

“I felt like they were getting bullied,” he said Sunday to reporters in the visitors’ clubhouse at Busch Stadium. “And they gave into it.”

There is another way to describe what Muncy suggested.

The Cardinals’ catchers were doing their jobs.

“I don’t think I bully umpires,” catcher Andrew Knizner said, smiling, when asked. “I try to work with them the best I can. There are definitely cases where it’s like the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If you ask, keep asking about a certain part of the zone, or a certain pitch with most guys you have a better chance of getting it, especially if you’re in good communication.”

“As a catcher, I have to stick up for my pitcher way more than I stick up for me as a batter,” catcher Willson Contreras said. “That’s because this guy is trying to make their best pitches and sometimes umpires like to ask, they to ask if I saw it in the strike zone. I think I’m honest.”

Knizner said the key for him is getting a “read” on the umpire’s preference, and during spring training Contreras and the Cardinals spoke about the importance of resisting complaints as a hitter to avoid conflict as a catcher. During one spring training game, Contreras was frustrated by a call on him as a hitter, and then he continued to exchange thoughts with home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol called that “a good day for him to start the process of thinking through navigating nine innings as a catcher as well as a hitter.”

The word Marmol used for Contreras was “personable.”

At issue for Muncy were several calls over the weekend that he felt were not consistent, even within his fourth-inning at-bat Sunday that got him ejected. Jack Flaherty dropped a changeup low in the zone, right at the edge, and umpire Nic Lentz called it a ball. Flaherty came back with a 95-mph fastball on the outer corner and low — and he got the strike call. Muncy fumed, pointed his bat at the third-base ump (who had been behind the plate the previous game), and missed the remainder of Sunday’s game as the Cardinals won the four-game series.

Muncy elaborated on his sentiment Monday during Foul Territory, an online program co-hosted by former Cardinals catcher A. J. Pierzynski.

“I don’t think the catchers did anything wrong,” the Dodgers infielder told Foul Territory. “It was like the more you complained the bigger zone you got as a catcher. I was kind of saying, ‘All you guys are getting tricked into this right now.’”

Contreras, who caught the game, said the tricks were two-sided.

“They give a lot of calls on both sides,” Contreras said. “That’s the thing. When you have a really good catcher like (LA’s) Will Smith, who is getting calls, right? And you’re happy about it, you’re getting calls. And then you have me on the other side getting calls, and you’re not happy about it? That’s one thing that I was kind of shocked about watching (Muncy’s) video.”

Early in Tuesday night’s game against the Reds, Contreras had back-to-back high fastballs called strikes on him. He fouled off the next one, reacting to the high zone. A call at the height later in the game would get Nolan Arenado and Marmol ejected.

Contreras the hitter did not appear to fume at the calls.

Knizner illustrated how the conversation can change when a catcher, in a close game, does not want to get “too angry or question umpires” as a hitter because “you can’t have the strike zone shrink on you in the ninth.”

“That is something I do think about,” he said. “If I’m begging for these calls now when I go up to hit I better be ready. If he throws that pitch on the outside corner, I might have to foul it off or swing at it. Can’t let it go and get rung up. Now, it’s definitely a fine line because you’re exactly right, if you ask for it then he might call it against you.”

There’s a word for that.

Convincing.

Or, karma.

“If I was bullying umpires,” Contreras said, “I could get thrown out.”

O’Neill stops activities, Carlson to start them

Outfielder Tyler O’Neill has halted his baseball activities back in St. Louis as he and the team determine the next step in what’s become an extended recovery from a lower back strain. O’Neill missed his 18th game Tuesday and did not take batting practice as hoped Monday or moved closer to a rehab assignment that was already delayed.

“(What) I understand is they’ve scaled back on baseball activities,” Marmol said. “And there’s not a lot of progress at the moment.”

The severity or diagnosis of the back injury has not changed, Marmol said.

Dylan Carlson (ankle sprain) will resume hitting in the cage within a few days and see how the ankle recovers from that pressure before then also testing it running in the outfield. Carlson is not on the road trip, but he will be eligible to return from the injured list as soon as this weekend if he makes strides.

Extra Bases

Matthew Liberatore was available out of the bullpen Tuesday, and his usage or not will influence which weekend game in Cleveland he starts. ... Jake Woodford (shoulder) and Packy Naughton (forearm) have continued throwing bullpen sessions at Busch Stadium on schedule and going through arm-strengthening programs in preparation for rehab assignments. Woodford threw a bullpen Tuesday, and he’ll have another bullpen session later this week. That could position him for a rehab assignment before the end of the month. ... Tre Fletcher, the Cardinals’ second-round pick in 2019, received his release from the organization Tuesday. Fletcher, 22, played 21 games this season at Low-A Palm Beach and hit .205 with a .259 on-base percentage. A gifted athlete, Fletcher had minimal baseball experience but a raw set of skills that the Cardinals believed they could develop into a prospect in center field. ... The Cardinals entered Tuesday’s game with an 86-85 record at Great American Ball Park.