Having served his one-game suspension, Jose Bautista is still weighing in on this month's on-field dust up with Rougned Odor.
Odor punched Bautista after the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder, who had reached base after being hit by a pitch from Matt Bush, slid at Odor's legs in the midst of a double play on May 15. Players from both teams rushed the field, and Odor shoved Bautista and then landed the punch.
"Was [Odor] out to play baseball that day? Maybe partly," Bautista told Sports Illustrated. "Part of me also thinks that he was looking for a fight."
Bautista, who admitted that his slide was late, says he didn't intend to hurt Odor.
"I could have hit him," he said. "I could have hurt him. I chose not to. My cleats were down. I slid through the bag. Was it late? Yes, a hundred percent. But what can I do after they hit me? Should I ask my manager to let me pitch, which he is never going to let me do? Like, what am I supposed to do? Just sit there and take it?"
Via ESPN