Inside The Mets

Former New York Mets reliever takes a swing at fan during game

An ex-Mets relief pitcher is under fire for trying to assault a fan during a June 19 game.
Grant Young|
Apr 9, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Dennis Santana (65) pitches against the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Apr 9, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Dennis Santana (65) pitches against the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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New York MetsPittsburgh PiratesDetroit Tigers

A very strange scene occurred in the visitors' bullpen during the Pittsburgh Pirates' June 19 game against the Detroit Tigers at Detroit's Comerica Park.

At one point in the game (which the Pirates won by a score of 8-4), Pittsburgh relief pitcher Dennis Santana swung at a fan watching him from the first row of stands. After a verbal back-and-forth between him and the fan (who was presumably heckling him), Santana approached the wall separating the bullpen from the grandstands and jumped up while trying to hit the fan with his left hand.

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The fan, who was wearing a Pirates jersey, managed to move out of the way, and Santana was then escorted away from the scene. X user @_shadky posted a video of this altercation with the caption, "Live from comerica park🤣 dennis santana swings on a fan with a tigers hat and pirates jersey lmfao".

Santana spent the 2023 season pitching for the New York Mets. He amassed a 5.91 ERA in nine appearances (10.2 innings pitched) with the team. The 29-year-old reliever has been fantastic for Pittsburgh to this point in 2025, posting a 1.72 ERA with 5 saves and 25 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched.

While the fan must have crossed some line for Santana to react in this way, the bottom line is that this is a very bad look for the former Mets pitcher, as resorting to attempted violence in a situation like this is never the right decision.

One would assume that Santana is going to be fined by the league for what he did on Thursday.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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