Did Howie Kendrick check his phone in the outfield?

Did Dodgers outfielder Howie Kendrick really check his phone while he was out on the field?

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets matched up in Citi Field on Friday night in a rematch from the 2015 MLB Playoffs. While Chase Utley was not greeted warmly by the Mets faithful, it was something else that got the Internet absolutely losing their mind. Specifically, everyone starting freaking out over Dodgers outfielder Howie Kendrick “checking his phone” while in the outfield.

However, the question is whether or not that was what Kendrick was actually doing.

Here’s the video of Howie Kendrick in question where he clearly takes something out of his back pocket and checks it:

Now to the issue at hand—was that Kendrick checking his phone?

No. No. 100 percent not.

While everyone may be saying that’s what he was doing and while it may be the same motion and pattern of movements, Howie Kendrick is doing something that most outfielders do on a game-to-game basis.

Players in the outfield all have a scouting report on them that lists how they should shift for every hitter that they’re facing on a given night. It’s pretty obvious that’s what Kendrick is checking here considering that the hitter is announced, he reaches into his pocket and checks the paper, and then proceeds to shift.

So while it may be a juicy line to say that he was checking his phone, it’s also patently false. That’s not at all what’s happening here.

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