Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson is in concussion protocol after a collision at home plate with Padres baserunner Luke Voit in the first inning of Tuesday’s game.
With one out in the bottom of the first, San Diego’s Jurickson Profar laced a double to left field. Voit raced home as Cincinnati shortstop Kyle Farmer fired home a relay throw to the left side of the plate, which Stephenson caught. The Padres DH then collided with the Reds catcher as he tried to avoid the tag, resulting in his chest and right elbow colliding with Stephenson’s head.
Stephenson lay on his back for around 30 seconds before Reds trainer Tomas Vera came out of the dugout to examine him. The catcher walked off the field, accompanied by Vera.
After the Reds lost 6–2, Cincinnati outfielder Tommy Pham called out Voit for the “dirty” slide.
“When I rewatched it on video, I thought Luke could’ve done a bitter job with avoiding the tag. The way his hands hit him, it was dirty as f---,” Pham said, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I don’t like it at all. The way his hands hit him in the face, it was dirty. If Luke wants to settle it, I get down really well. Anything, Muay Thai, whatever. I’ve got a (gym) owner here who will let me use his facility. So, f--- ’em.”
Farmer also addressed the collision, explaining that he couldn’t entirely figure out what Voit was doing with his arms during the slide.
“Not too often you see a runner slide and grab someone’s head and slam it to the ground like that,” the Reds shortstop said. “You’re usually trying to reach for the bag. Maybe that’s what he was trying to do. After looking at the replay, it looked like a wrestling move to Tyler’s head and snapped it down.”
Voit told reporters after the game that he “wasn’t trying” to make the slide dirty when attempting to score.
“I wasn’t trying to take [Stephenson] out or anything. I guess my elbow kind of just got him a little bit, but I hope he’s all right,” Voit said, per The Athletic. “I tried to go around him. I think he went in to make sure he (made the tag). … It’s baseball and I wasn’t trying to make it dirty or anything. I’m just trying to make a play obviously, but unfortunately, I was out, so I ended up getting the short end of the stick on it too.”
Stephenson will be placed on the seven-day concussion list, according to Reds manager David Bell. He did not speak to reporters afterward because he was in the concussion protocol, but he retweeted a video of the collision and wrote “only thing that matters is he was out.”
