Astros manager Baker concerned over retaliation

As spring training gets underway, the words coming at the Houston Astros over their sign-stealing scandal are arriving high and hard.

New Astros manager Dusty Baker is starting to worry about more than words.

Speaking to reporters, Baker expressed concerned that opposing pitchers will retaliate against the team's players by hitting them with pitches. It's not just a guess on Baker's part.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling said Firday there will be a time and a place for retaliation from the mound. Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger said that Astros hitters won't have comfortable at-bats in the early part of the season.

"I'm depending on the league to try to put a stop to this seemingly premeditated retaliation that I'm hearing about," Baker told reporters Saturday, according to ESPN. "And in most instances in life, you get kind of reprimanded when you have premeditated anything. I'm just hoping that the league puts a stop to this before somebody gets hurt."

As spring training gets underway, many players have delivered their take on the Astros' system in 2017 to steal pitchers' signs and relay what pitch is coming to their batters. Houston ended up winning the World Series that year, winning a Game 7 over the Dodgers.

Cody Bellinger was a Dodgers rookie at the time and struggled in that World Series. He wasn't just angry with the Astros' cheating on the field, he wasn't very impressed with the press conference the team held this week to try and apologize for their actions.

"I thought the apologies were whatever," Bellinger told reporters in Glendale, Ariz., on Friday. "I thought (owner) Jim Crane's was weak. I thought (commissioner Rob) Manfred's punishment was weak, giving (the players) immunity. Those guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don't realize is (Jose) Altuve stole an MVP from (New York Yankees slugger Aaron) Judge in '17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us. But it's over."

--Field Level Media