Phillips plays joke on his old teammate Jorge López after HBP originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
You don’t see players making light of a hit by pitch all too often. But on Saturday, when Orioles pitcher Jorge López struck Rays outfielder Brett Phillips with a 95-mph fastball, Phillips decided to play a trick on his former teammate and ended up fooling us all.
Phillips winced for just a brief moment, before dropping the bat and asking López “why are you throwing at me,” as he approached the mound. For a brief moment, López, Orioles catcher Austin Wynns and umpire Nick Mahrley looked prepared for a confrontation.
That is until Phillips couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing as Mahrley ushered him to first.
It was a flawlessly executed joke on the part of Phillips who shared the same clubhouse for three seasons–albeit sporadically–with López, first in Milwaukee (2017-2018) and then in Kansas City (2018-2020), before both found new teams in 2020.
Phillips’ Rays went on to take the game 5-4 and claim the best record in the majors in the process. The three-game series between the Orioles (22-41) and the Rays (41-24) comes to a close tomorrow at Tropicana Field.