Realmuto on eye roll: 'It was terrible timing'

August 31st, 2019

PHILADELPHIA -- ’s phone buzzed with people sending him the clip of his ill-timed eye roll following a shot of chugging to the mound on Friday night in a blowout loss to the Mets.

It looked as though Realmuto rolled his eyes at Hughes during a pitching change in the eighth inning. It was not that.

“It was very bad timing,” Realmuto said before Saturday afternoon’s game against the Mets. “Nothing was really going on. I was mad that we had just given up the lead, and [Amed] Rosario’s soft, two-run single. Like, that’s what I was frustrated about.”

Realmuto chuckled. He found the whole thing amusing. It was.

“It had nothing to do with Jared running into the game,” he said, smiling. “I had to explain it to him as well. He knew. He was just laughing it off. It was terrible timing. I’ve seen some people online saying that I was mad at something that [manager] Gabe [Kapler] had just said. That was also not the case. It was 100 percent to do with the fact that we just gave up the lead.”

Realmuto said that if the camera had not cut from Hughes to him and back to Hughes, it would not have been a big deal. They would have just thought he was mad.

“I even look out in that direction, but it was not that,” Realmuto said, laughing again. “I promise. When I saw that video, I was like, ‘Oh, God, that was the worst timing.’ It couldn’t have been any worse. I had so many friends send me the video clip, like, dying laughing. I’m like, ‘It’s funny, but I don’t want him to think it had anything to do with him.’”

Realmuto made it a point to find Hughes on Saturday and let him know things weren't how they seemed.

“He goes, 'It’s funny, because I have had catchers get mad at me for running in like that,'” Realmuto said. “I’m like, ‘Trust me, I don’t care how you run on the mound.’”

Realmuto laughed again.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “I think it’s hilarious actually that he does that.”

Setback for Dominguez

The Phillies had expressed hope that right-hander might pitch again this season, despite a UCL injury that has had him on the injured list since early June. But Dominguez experienced some soreness during his last throwing session, and he will have a followup appointment next week with Phillies physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti.

There is no timetable for Dominguez's return, but it sounds unlikely he will pitch again this season.

Injury updates

• Left-hander (strained left flexor) is also unlikely to pitch again this season.

• Right-hander (strained left hamstring) will miss the rest of the season. He is evaluating surgical and non-surgical options.

• Right-hander had surgery on Thursday to remove a bone spur in his right elbow.