SI

Pirates Infielder Blasted By Fans After Lamest Hit-By-Pitch of MLB Season

This was pretty weak.

Andy Nesbitt

Pittsburgh's Isiah Kiner-Falefa seemed to lean into this pitch.
Pittsburgh's Isiah Kiner-Falefa seemed to lean into this pitch. /
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Getting on base has always been a difficult thing to do at the major league level and it seems to have only gotten even harder in recent years thanks to so many pitchers throwing so many ridiculous high-speed pitches with tons of movement.

So getting to first safely should be something that's celebrated. But that's not what happened Tuesday night when Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa got on base after being hit by a pitch, as fans on social media crushed him for the way he got it done.

Kiner-Falefa seemed to lean his left elbow in at the last moment and barely had his elbow protector get touched by the ball.

Look at this:

It was great to see he was OK after that!

Fans were not impressed by Kiner-Falefa's move:

The Pirates went on to lose the game, 3-0.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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