Willians Astudillo is never one to hide his emotions so if he was upset about his release from the Minnesota Twins, there was a good chance he’d find a way to show it.
That outlet came during a Venezuelan winter league game when Astudillo landed a massive haymaker during a benches-clearing brawl.
Willians Astudillo throws an absolute haymaker during this Venezuelan league game #MLB pic.twitter.com/T0UFokJBT4
— Sheffield Shuffler (@SheffieldShuff) November 21, 2021
The incident began when a batter for el Caribes was plunked in the ninth inning. After both benches cleared, the situation devolved into a pure brawl with Astudillo sucker-punching the pitcher.
¡Tangana en Barquisimeto! Sigue creciendo la rivalidad entre @caribesanz y @CardenalesDice y hoy se volvieron a vaciar las bancas. El grandeliga William Astudillo conecta a Luis Madero cuando estaba a espaldas a él, Tomas Telis lo remata con una patada mientras estaba en el piso pic.twitter.com/lgGEFZ9zMJ
— Carlos A. Colmenares (@CarlosColme13) November 20, 2021
With an attack normally reserved for Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello or Raphael, Astudillo used “Turtle Power” to defend his teammate, but that could have been used at the plate last season.
Astudillo logged a career-low .634 OPS in 72 games last season but also recorded a 2.25 ERA in four relief appearances. Perhaps he was upset he never got a chance to unseat Alexander Colomé as the closer but whatever it was, there was something there.
Now a free-agent, “La Tortuga” will likely be with another team next season but if that doesn’t work out, he could be on his way to a promising MMA career.
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