Jorge Lopez is being cut by the struggling New York Mets after an outburst this week. The relief pitcher threw his glove into the stands following his ejection Wednesday at Citi Field. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza called the outburst "not acceptable" and said it would be handled internally. Lopez expressed no remorse over his display, the AP reports. In what the New York Post calls a "bizarre" postgame interview, he seemed to say he had "been on the worst team in probably the whole f---ing MLB." But English is his second language, and some thought he had called himself "the worst teammate," reports MLB.com. Asked to clarify whether he'd called the Mets "the worst team," he said, "Yeah, probably, it looked like."
Lopez gave up a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani late in New York's 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Moments later, the right-hander was ejected for shouting at third base umpire Ramon De Jesus over an appeal ruling on Freddie Freeman's checked swing. Lopez pointed at De Jesus and yelled some more, then dropped the ball and walked off the mound with his jersey untucked. As he approached the Mets' dugout, he tossed his glove high over the protective netting and it landed a couple of rows deep in the stands, where it was snagged by a fan.
After his cap fell off his head as well, Lopez left it lying in the dirt in front of the dugout and headed for the bench. "I'm the way I am," he said in the post-match interview. "I'm not afraid to be me." Lopez, however, said he thought his teammates were embarrassed. "Jorge's a good guy inside. Deep down, he knows he shouldn't have done that, obviously," veteran reliever Adam Ottavino said. "Everybody's going through stuff." After the game, the Mets (22-33) began the process of designating Lopez for assignment. They'll have seven days to trade or release him, or send him outright to the minors if no other team claims him on waivers.
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