'Power-Hungry Move,' Cardinals' Marmol Explains Ejection After Rincon Told to Straighten Hat by Ump

Arizona Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said home plate umpire Doug Eddings made a "power-hungry move" by telling rookie pitcher Hancel Rincon to fix his hat in the middle his MLB debut Friday at the Colorado Rockies.

Marmol argued with Eddings, earned a pitch clock violation for reliever Justin Bruihl and was ultimately ejected in the sixth inning after the umpire called time to speak to Rincon.

Both Rincon and Marmol said after the game Eddings had been telling the pitcher to fix the angle of his hat.

"Quite honestly, I thought it was pretty embarrassing on his end," Marmol said in his postgame press conference. "We have a kid making his debut, and in-between an at-bat, he tells him he needs to fix the hat, and 'The kid's not going to wear his hat like that on my field.' Last I checked, this is Coors Field.

"So, I took issues with it. And the pitch violation while I'm out there having the discussion, that's also stupid, in my opinion... at the end of the day, I thought they handled it poorly, and I'd like an explanation at some point."

Marmol also said, per MLB.com's Owen Perkins: "You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop, plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted. I have an issue with that. That's just a power-hungry move, in my opinion."

Rincon had started out the sixth inning with a lineout before conceding a triple to Rockies first baseman T.J. Rumfield.

The Cardinals challenged the triple, which stood. Rumfield then made it home on a wild pitch before Rincon surrendered a home run, a single and was ultimately pulled for Bruihl.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Eddings said after the game he noticed the angle of Rincon's hat after it had been pointed out to him by Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman.

"It was really, really crooked. So I asked the catcher to tell him to straighten his hat out and the pitcher did... nobody said anything until he gave up a couple runs," Eddings said, per Goold.

Eddings also told reporters he felt the hat angle was an "unwritten rule" in baseball, Goold reported.

"You've got to wear your uniform. Your hat is straight. It's not crooked. They can't wear it backward like a catcher. If it's a distraction like anything on the field, like a glove or anything, and someone makes you aware of it, you address that," Eddings said, per Goold.

Rincon said after the game with a teammate translating that he had been wearing his hat at the angle he usually uses while pitching, per Goold.

The ejection marked the fourth of the season for Marmol, who remained away from the dugout as Iván Herrera hit a ninth-inning home run to seal a 7-6 comeback win for the Cardinals.