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Reds’ Ty France Had His Flying Bat Land in Hilarious Spot After Striking Out
It's true that Cincinnati Reds designated hitter Ty France hasn't had the greatest year—slashing .229/.309/.372 for a career-low OPS of .682.
However, it hasn't merited disposing of his bat the way he did against the Kansas City Royals Saturday—quite literally.
With nobody out and the bases empty in the third inning of a game the Reds already trailed 10-0, France worked a 2-2 count against pitcher Michael Wacha. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, France swung and missed and let go of his bat—which struck the top of the Royals' dugout and landed in a trash can.
A Cincinnati staffer could be seen holding his arms up as if France had just kicked a field goal.
Ty France strikes out and throws his bat in the trash all in one motion. pic.twitter.com/2HIAcNp41A
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 18, 2024
The Reds acquired France from the Seattle Mariners on July 29, presumably hoping for a late-season surge. That has not come to pass, as Cincinnati entered Sunday five games back of the Atlanta Braves for the National League's final wild-card playoff spot.
Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .