Ruben Amaro Jr. on the Philadelphia Phillies postgame show on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Photo credit: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Spencer Strider didn’t mean to hit Bryce Harper. But that doesn’t change the fact that he did.

The Atlanta Braves ace lost control of a 95.3 mph fastball that drilled the Phillies slugger square on the elbow. The impact was so violent that the ball ricocheted off Harper and nearly bounced all the way back to the mound. Harper had to leave the game.

X-rays came back negative. The official diagnosis was an elbow contusion.

After the game, Strider insisted there was no intent behind the pitch. But sometimes in baseball, intent doesn’t matter. There’s a certain old-school mentality — call it an unwritten rule — that says there should still be consequences. As SNY analyst and former pitcher Ron Darling once said: “Sometimes you have to pay as a team for your pitcher’s inability to throw the ball over the plate.”

So, should the Braves have to pay for Harper getting plunked?

It depends on who you ask. If you ask the team’s former general manager, Ruben Amaro Jr., now an analyst with NBC Sports Philadelphia, he’ll tell you that the Braves should have to answer for it.

“Here’s the thing: I mean, Strider, for me, is a guy. He’s already had three hit by pitch hit batsmen this year,” Amaro said Tuesday night. “This year, he does not have the same command. Now, is there a purpose behind this pitch? Probably wanted to get in. Probably doesn’t have the command to get in. But someone will pay for that, I gotta believe.

“There’s a lot of baseball to play against the Atlanta Braves, and I will tell you that somebody on that mound will do the job by retaliating. I’m not sure when. They have plenty of time to do it. But it certainly should happen, because, for me, even if it wasn’t purposeful to hit him, I think the retaliation is the right thing to do.”

And Amaro might have a point.

Strider didn’t have his best stuff. He lasted just 4.2 innings in a 2-0 loss, giving up one hit, walking four, and hitting Harper. Of his 90 pitches, only 50 were strikes.

To be fair, it was only his third start since coming back from Tommy John surgery, and he’d already dealt with a hamstring issue earlier in the year. There’s rust. And there’s also context.

But none of that means Harper getting drilled doesn’t come with consequences. At least in Amaro’s eyes.

Whether you believe in retaliation or not, this is how some corners of baseball still operate. And if the Phillies follow that code, Ronald Acuña Jr. or someone else in a Braves uniform might feel one in the ribs before this season series is over.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.