Giants send pitcher who got into heated argument with manager Gabe Kapler to Triple-A

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler says the team optioning Zack Littell had nothing to do with their heated conversation after Kapler removed the reliever from the game Monday night.

The Giants were making room for left-hander Thomas Szapucki on the roster, and Littell was the odd man out. But the timing does look a bit suspicious after Littell had some words with Kapler on the mound that led to both walking into the Giants’ clubhouse to finish the argument.

Kapler called the move “a baseball decision,” saying Littell’s option was simply a performance-based transaction. He added that the move likely would’ve been made prior to Monday’s incident.

“I think the most straightforward way to think about it is there’s a lot of competition in our bullpen all the time,” Kapler said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “And the way I explained it to Zack is that I totally understand that he may feel the decision to have him go to Sac [Triple-A Sacramento] was related to the interaction that we had last night on the mound and subsequently in the tunnel. I tried to assure him that it was very much performance-based, and we have a lot of arms that we want to get a look at in our bullpen, including getting Szapucki on the roster.”

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Kapler finished by saying Littell has the chance to return to the Giants at some point, though the regular season is drawing to a close in less than a month.

In Monday night’s 3-2 win for the Giants, Littell gave up two earned runs on three hits and one walk over just two-thirds of an inning.

Littell stared down Kapler as he came out of the dugout and onto the field to take him out of the game. After forcefully dropping the ball into his manager’s hands, Littell said something to Kapler as he walked off the mound upset.

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Frustrated, Kapler wasn’t going to let that brew, and TV cameras caught them walking into the Giants’ tunnel in the dugout to hash everything out. Nothing has come of it since.

It definitely won’t now as Littell is headed to Triple-A.