Venezuela teammates keep trolling Eduardo Escobar over his major fear

Members of Team Venezuela have been trolling teammate Eduardo Escobar at the World Baseball Classic over his specific fear.

Venezuela was one of two teams to go undefeated in the group stage, going 4-0 in Pool D. The team is stacked with talent, such as Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., and Miami Marlins first baseman Luis Arraez. Also on the team is New York Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar.

Videos have circulated on social media of Escobar’s teammates in the World Baseball Classic trolling him. What are they trolling him over, exactly?

Well, Escobar is deathly afraid of cats. So, his various teammates have filmed various instances of them trying to scare Escobar with fake cats or cat noises.

Eduardo Escobar trolled by Venezuela teammates over fear of cats

Outfielder David Peralta, who was Escobar’s former teammate with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is the one holding the cat carrier. That caused Escobar to throw water bottles (and nearly a baseball bat) and run out of the room upon seeing it.

This was actually well known when Escobar played for the Diamondbacks, as teammates pulled a similar prank back in 2019 with a cat carrier. When Escobar saw this, he ran. There’s also the fact that the Diamondbacks had a “rally cat,” a stuffed animal, for the 2019 season, and well, teammates would scare him with it.

Escobar explained his fear of cats when arriving to Arizona back in 2018, saying it’s a fear he’s had since he was a kid.

“One million percent I’m afraid of cats,” he said, h/t AZ Central. “Since I was a little kid in Venezuela, I’ll see a cat and start running. I’m so nervous. I don’t like to see a cat.”

On Saturday, March 18, Venezuela plays the United States, with the winner facing off against Cuba in the semifinals. First pitch is scheduled to take place at 7:00 p.m. ET, and will be broadcasted on FOX.