When asked what happened, Pederson explained that he and Pham play together in a fantastic football league. More than a year ago, Pederson said there was a disagreement over a transaction he had made in which he moved a player listed as an injured reserve. He said a text message sent to a group chat for the league accused him of cheating to “hide” players on his bench. He did not say directly that Pham had sent the message.
“I looked at the rules and sent in a screenshot of the rules, as it says that when a player is ruled out, you can put them in the IR, and that’s all he was doing,” Pederson said.
Pederson expressed confusion that Pham was upset by the move; he said Pham had made a similar transaction with his own squad, going so far as to offer who the player in question was with Pham’s team.
“It just so happened that he had a player, Jeff Wilson, who was out, and he had him in the IR,” Pederson said. “I said, ‘You literally have the same thing in your bank.’
Pederson said Friday’s incident didn’t have much of an advantage. Pham approached him, asked if he remembered the problem, Pederson confirmed yes, and Pham slapped him on the cheek.
Pederson said he chose not to retaliate.
“I wasn’t excited and I don’t think violence is the answer,” he said. “So I left the situation.”
Finally, Pham was removed from the Cincinnati starting lineup. He and Reds coach David Bell refused to address the slap after the game, but Giants coach Kapler said the league would investigate the incident.
“Major League Baseball is investigating, and until that’s complete, I probably won’t say much,” Kapler said.