New York Mets pitcher Jorge Lopez lost his cool and them some Wednesday, but he’s not apologizing for it.
The right-handed reliever entered the Mets’ game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning, but didn’t last long.
Lopez recorded just one out before he was ejected by third base umpire Ramon De Jesus for arguing a checked swing call on Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. The Mets pitcher was clearly frustrated after just giving up a two-run shot to Shohei Ohtani the batter before.
As Lopez left the field, his anger boiled over and he chucked his glove into the stands above the Mets dugout. The Mets would go on to lose the game 10-3 and fall to 22-33 on the season.
After the game, Lopez was offered the chance to apologize for his actions, but instead doubled down and even took a shot at his own team.
“No, I don’t regret it,” Lopez told SNY’s Steve Gibs when asked if regretted the glove toss. “I think I’ve been looking the worst team in the whole (expletive) MLB. So whatever happened, happened.”
Gibs reports that he later gave Lopez a chance to clarify if he was actually calling his own team the worst team in the league, and the pitcher confirmed that was what he meant.
Anthony DiComo, the Mets beat reporter for MLB.com, later clarified some confusion around Lopez’s quote and said the pitcher explained he both calling himself the worst teammate and the Mets the worst team
“I’ll be tomorrow here if they want me,” Lopez added. “Whatever they want to do.”
According to Gibs, the Mets have already decided they don’t want him around the team anymore after the outburst, as the team will reportedly designate him for assignment.
Now in his ninth MLB season, Lopez has a 3.12 ERA over 26 innings pitched with the Mets the season.
After the loss, the Mets are now fourth in the NL East and trail the division-leading Phillies by 16 games.