Kyle Crick's season is over thanks to an argument that turned physical with a teammate. After an altercation in the clubhouse with fellow Pirates player Felipe Vazquez on Monday, Pirates hurler Kyle Crick underwent season-ending surgery to repair tendons in the index finger of the right-hander's pitching hand.
The two fought in the visiting clubhouse at Oracle Park before facing the Giants, who the Pirates went on to defeat, 6-4. Both players were fined an "undisclosed amount" for their actions after the fight. The statement released by the team says that "the conduct violated the players' contracts," which resulted in the fines.
Neal Huntington, the team executive vice president, and general manager, released a statement of his own on the incident:
"The behavior exhibited by these two players last night is unacceptable, inconsistent with the standards expected of a Major League player and will not be tolerated by the organization."
Crick commented on the situation saying there was "a lot of bickering back and forth."
"Punches were thrown," he said, claiming that Vazquez swung his fist first. "You kind of have to at some point stand up for yourself and start throwing back. It's one of those deals where it's unfortunate. It's two losers in this deal. Nobody can win fighting a teammate. It's just an unfortunate deal."
Crick added said that though it is terrible to be injured off the field during the season, this is something that has been building and now the two can move past their disagreements.
"In a way, I think a scuffle like that can hasten the process of moving forward because we kind of got it out of the way. We've been bickering for a little bit, and I think this is something that we can easily get past with mutual respect for one another, " he said.
The 26-year-old is expected to be fully recovered by spring training, but for now, baseball will have to take a back seat.