Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was upset with home plate umpire Derek Thomas following the team’s 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday in front of 40,343 fans at Comerica Park. The Cubs lost 2-of-3 games in the series.
Hoerner was frustrated after being called for looking at a third strike in the fifth inning when the Cubs were trailing the Tigers 2-0, and Dansby Swanson led off the side with a double to left field. The ball in question clearly looked out of the strike zone, and Hoerner let Thomas know about it.
Thomas ejected Hoerner, and Counsell defended his second baseman. Thomas decided to throw out Counsell as well.
Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner was ejected over a 6-word diss
Following the game, Hoerner told the media that he gave Thomas a six-word message before being ejected.
“I don’t think it’s really that often you can verbatim say to the press afterwards, like, what got you thrown out,” Hoerner said via Marquee Sports Network. “I said, You’re having a really bad day.'”
"I said, 'You're having a really bad day.'"
Nico Hoerner discloses what he said to Derek Thomas before being ejected. pic.twitter.com/5EVpv2ARpN
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 8, 2025
Hoerner felt the called strike hurt the Cubs’ chances of coming back in the game.
“Big moment in that game, partially why it got a reaction out of me,” Hoerner said. “Obviously, don’t want to miss the rest of that game, and had no intention of that, but unfortunately, that was the case.”
Craig Counsell was not happy with the ejection
Counsell doubled down that Thomas was in the wrong. He said in his postgame presser that the ejection was “unwarranted.”
“The ejection of Nico was completely unwarranted,” Counsell said. “There’s nothing that was said that warrants an objection. You can’t eject players and affect outcomes of games for no offense. He didn’t like what Nico said. But it’s, you know, it just Nico’s walking by. What he said is not ejectable. You don’t just eject players and lineups and things like that.”
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