Here’s what Martin Maldonado said about his illegal bat

The Houston Astros aren’t starting the World Series off with the best look, and Martin Maldonado spoke out about his controversial incident.

The Houston Astros just can’t seem to live down their cheating scandal from 2017, and now they face extra scrutiny for anything that could possibly sway the game in their favor. They’ve had a few incidents in just two games, the most recent being Martin Maldonado using an illegal bat and having to switch back during the game.

Maldonado spoke out on the incident and made it clear it was unintentional, which adds up. According to Buster Olney of ESPN, Maldonado explained that he reached out to Albert Pujols to see if he could borrow some of his bats because he believes they’re some of the best quality ones.

Pujols is a legend, who wouldn’t want to use his bats?

The Astros have a bad reputation, but this just seems like an honest mistake. This could’ve happened to anyone. Maldonado and Pujols played together on the Los Angeles Angels in 2017 and 2018, and Pujols was able to use those bats throughout his entire career due to joining the league before 2011.

It’s tough to keep up with every single rule change in the league, especially the ones regarding equipment.

Astros’ Martin Maldonado made an honest mistake with the illegal bats

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, “A player may use a maple bat, but it has to meet MLB standards for slope of grain, among other items, the official said.” Pujols got the bat grandfathered in since he made his debut in 2001, far before the rule, and was already accustomed to his bats.

The league reportedly didn’t see any performance advantages to using the bat, but the rule is in place as a safety standard. According to Sherman, “MLB considers that brand a riskier bat because it has a greater chance of splintering into multiple pieces.”

It’s such a subtle rule that most players probably wouldn’t know of unless violated, like in Maldonado’s case. After all, Maldonado watched his former teammate play with the same bats his entire career without violating any rules.

Though the Astros do have a tough history of purposefully bending the rules, this situation wasn’t one of those times.