One day after breaking his hand, Orioles utility fielder Blaze Alexander responded to a postgame comment from a Royals player, calling Vinnie Pasquantino’s statement a “weird take.”

Pasquantino, a first baseman for Kansas City, appeared to pay a backhanded compliment to Alexander while simultaneously defending right-hander Lucas Erceg’s actions.

In a 1-2 count, Erceg pitched quickly twice in a row, trying to find an advantage over the hot-hitting Alexander. Erceg’s fastball ran up and in and struck Alexander on his left hand, which caused a nondisplaced fracture, manager Craig Albernaz said.

Alexander was frustrated by the quick-pitch tactic, which led to an injury, and he jawed at Erceg. The benches cleared, but there were no ejections and very little pushing.

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After the game, Pasquantino told reporters that Erceg wasn’t trying to hit Alexander.

“We had some up-and-in pitches the other day. To be honest, that’s a guy who’s hitting over .300 and is feeling good about himself that feels the need, when he gets hit, that he can say something. So credit to him for feeling good about himself like that,” Pasquantino said.

“But he’s clearly not — it’s a 1-2 count. We’re trying to get outs. We’re not trying to give away free baserunners. I think that’s a bad baseball mindset, personally, because why would we hit a guy right there? It’s just common sense. But he feels good about what he’s doing right now, and credit to him, he’s been having a really good year. That was my perspective on it.”

Alexander is hitting .312 with an .807 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. His defensive versatility has made him a key player for the Orioles.

On X, Alexander responded to Pasquantino’s comments by reiterating that the quick pitching from Erceg led to a costly injury.

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“Never thought it was intentional but the 2 quick pitches to try and catch me off guard led to me now missing games. Thanks for the compliments tho Big Foot,” Alexander wrote, referring to Pasquantino’s nickname of “Pasquatch.”

Erceg also said postgame that there was no “ill intent” in how he pitched to Alexander.

“Was just trying to pitch. I quick pitch to a lot of guys. Especially with two-strike counts. So, I mean, I lost it a little bit up and in,” Erceg said.

After the game, Orioles players expressed their sympathy for Alexander. Albernaz called it a “gut punch” to lose the player for an extended period of time, although an exact timetable remains to be seen.

“Losing him, not just his skill set but also losing the performance night in, night out, it’s a tough one,” Pete Alonso said. “I’ve had broken hands before, so I know that’s kind of going to be not an easy pill to swallow. It’s really frustrating, but I hope he has a really quick and speedy recovery.”