Padres’ Trent Grisham debuts an actual ‘bat flick’ against Dodgers (Video)

San Diego Padres center fielder Trent Grisham debuts the ‘bat flick’ vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The rivalry between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers is arguably the best in baseball right now, and Padres center fielder Trent Grisham is doing his part to stir the pot.

San Diego took Game 1 of its road series at Dodger Stadium late on Thursday night. While Grisham’s solo shot off Dodgers ace Walker Buehler was not the game-decider, he debuted the ‘bat flick’ to add even more pettiness in the budding rivalry on this big fly. We have seen bat flips and all sorts of other extracurriculars on homers, but bat flicks are so subtle, they are awesome.

We need to see more of this behavior in every game the Padres and Dodgers play this season.

San Diego Padres: Trent Grisham’s ‘bat flick’ only adds fuel to the fire

The Padres improved to 11-10 on the season, while the Dodgers fell to 14-5 on the year after Thursday night. Though the Padres are four games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and in third place behind the San Francisco Giants, San Diego has split its first four games of the season vs. Los Angeles at two games apiece. It is a shame one of these clubs will end up a Wild Card team.

For years, the Dodgers’ biggest rival has been the Giants, and understandably so. Both teams left New York for California over half a century ago. These have been the two most well-run organizations in the NL West since the dawn of the expansion era. While San Diego has experienced plenty of dry spells, this Padres team is legit and will be battling Los Angeles all year.

Grisham proves that what you do with the bat is as important as hitting the ball over the fence.