It's rare that Major League Baseball fans can all agree on something, but they got fairly close on Tuesday night.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez beaned Trevor Story with a 94-mph fastball in the top of the fourth inning, and after the benches cleared, Valdez found himself ejected. It was one of the most blatant intentional hit-by-pitches of all time, because not only had Valdez just given up back-to-back home runs to Red Sox sluggers Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, but the pitch that hit Story was his first four-seam fastball of the whole season.
The incident elicited plenty of strong reactions, from Red Sox players and interim manager Chad Tracy, to analysts and former players, to internet commenters. But two stood out from the night.
First was the NESN broadcast duo of Dave O'Brien and Will Middlebrooks. O'Brien got some strong barbs in for a play-by-play guy, but Middlebrooks stole the show.
Red Sox and Tigers broadcasts had different viewpoints of Framber Valdez’s ejection pic.twitter.com/JL5Ho1WVZ4
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 6, 2026
“That’s so tired,” Middlebrooks said of the hit-by-pitch. “You can’t get him out, so you throw at him. What a joke.”
Then, after O'Brien summed up Valdez's "weak" fourth inning, Middlebrooks quipped, “Well let’s just hope he doesn’t cross-up his catcher now that he’s mad,” referring to the viral incident from last season while the lefty was still a member of the Houston Astros.
Meanwhile, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch made about as damning a comment as you'll ever see toward one of his own players, even if he didn't explicitly say Valdez was in the wrong. In other words, he got 99% of the way to saying it was a bad look for Valdez.
“We play a really good brand of baseball here,” Hinch said, per MLive. “That didn't feel like it. I'm not judging intent, but I know when you go out on the field in those confrontations, you usually feel like you're in your right. It didn't feel good being out there.”
In the coming days, we could absolutely see Valdez suspended, as his history is unlikely to do him any favors here. The Red Sox and Tigers square off in a season series finale on Wednesday night in Detroit, so we'll be watching to see if any hostility from Tuesday carries over.