Joc Pederson slapped before Giants-Reds game over fantasy football league dispute

Cincinnati – San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson said Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham slapped him before the series opener on Friday over a dispute over their fantasy football league.

As the Giants warmed up in the outfield, Pham confronted Pederson and punched him in the face before the pair parted ways.

Major League Baseball is investigating, and Pham has agreed to be cut from Cincinnati’s lineup shortly before first pitch pending the results of the investigation.

Pederson said after the Reds’ 5-1 win that he was accused of cheating by placing a player on injured reserve (IR) and replacing him with a free agent in a fantasy football league. Pederson said the player he put on IR had been ruled out for that week, making it a legal move. He said that Pham had executed essentially the same maneuver with his own team.

“I sent a screenshot of the rules, which says if a player is ruled out, you can put them on the IR and that’s all I was doing,” Pederson. “He literally did the same thing. That was basically it.”

Pederson said he had no idea Pham would confront him during the series in Cincinnati.

“There was no discussion, he came over and said, ‘Do you remember last year?’ and I was like, ‘Fantasy football?’” Pederson recalled.

The Giants outfielder said he did not retaliate after receiving a slap in the face and has no plans to respond to Pham again while the team is in Cincinnati.

“Violence is not the answer. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Pederson said. “I will not talk to him. I don’t think he wants to talk to me, I don’t know. It was a strange interaction.”

Pham threatened violence to settle scores on the field with San Diego’s Luke Voit in April, challenging the slugger to a fight after Voit injured Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson with a hard, ugly slide toward home plate.

“If Luke wants to figure it out, I feel great,” Pham said. “Anything. Muay Thai, whatever. As I said, I have an owner here who will allow me to use his facilities.”

The fight was witnessed by reporters and occurred before fans entered the stadium.

Reds manager David Bell declined to comment on the incident, and Pham declined to speak officially to reporters.

“Major League Baseball is looking into it, and until that’s complete, I’m probably not going to say much about it,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.