MLB Network panel unanimously defends Maikel Garcia in latest KC Royals-Yankees feud

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Maikel Garcia were the talk of the town after Tuesday night’s dust up at third base in the later innings.

Chisholm made his thoughts very clear on the “rough tag” he received from the Kansas City Royals third baseman with what appeared to be some choice words for him on the field as well as some harsh criticism for him postgame.

And while there was no response from the Royals in the moment, the hope would be that they would do their talking in the box score the following night to make up for the 10-2 devastating loss the Yankees issued them that night. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as despite a ninth inning rally the Royals still dropped Wednesday night's contest 6-3.

At least for Kansas City’s sake though, they seem to have the backing of some prominent fixtures in the MLB space when it comes to this specific incident.

MLB Network panel unanimously defends Maikel Garcia in latest KC Royals-Yankees feud

For full context the issue in discussion here occurred in the top of the sixth inning on Tuesday when Chisholm attempted to steal third base, and while covering third Garcia arrived a tad late to the base missing the catch and striking Chisholm in the head. This would result in the Yankees third baseman leaving the game with neck tightness.

Chisholm took exception to the situation, claiming that Garcia was a continuous problem for the Yankees.

Now, while this might be Chisholm's perspective, Brian Kenny along with former big leaguers Ron Darling and Yonder Alonso discussed this matter on Wednesday’s edition of MLB Now to determine whether or not Garcia was “up to no good” or committed any sort of excessive contact.

“I'm looking at Garcia, I don't see any ‘up to no good’,” Kenny said. “I think he got slid into.”

Darling would concur with his host, saying perhaps the Yankees past grievances with Garcia played a factor in this scenario.

“It was just a play that Chisholm and maybe the Yankees anticipate Garcia maybe being up to no good, but he certainly wasn’t there,” Darling would add.

While Chisholm might believe Garcia is at the centre of multiple incidents, Darling took the argument a step further saying that Chisholm might be the common denominator here.

“It's ironic because I think there's other teams that would say ‘every time we get into dust up Jazz Chisholm is in the middle of it’,” Darling said.

This likely comes from Chisholm’s outspoken demeanor, and the fact that he’s already not the most well-liked individual in Kansas City after comments he made in last year's ALDS, which carried over into this week’s series where he's claimed to have fully embraced the villain role amongst Royals fans.

Alonso would go on to break this play down from an on-field standpoint, arguing that this was simply a routine play that unfortunately didn't turn out well for either party.

“I think this was just a baseball play,” Alonso said. “This was a tight baseball play where you’ve got to make a tag, you’re a little late, there’s a right-handed hitter.”

Kenny would round off the segment by bringing things full circle back to where the feud began in last year's divisional rounds when Garcia was legitimately harshly tagged in the neck by Anthony Volpe.

He argued that if the Yankees believe Garcia is that the center of this conflict, that they're the ones to blame for it.

“For the Yankees to think this guy's always in the middle of it, yeah because you're getting after Garcia,” Kenny said.

As already mentioned, nothing immediately came to be of that incident on Wednesday, as perhaps the whole issue has died down. But given how poor things have been for the Royals of late all around, having the backing of a major network is at least some sort of consolation to rest their hat on.

They'll have a chance to salvage some dignity in this newfound rivalry on Thursday night, as they look to avoid the sweep and not dip below .500.