Nick Castellanos kicked off the season with a no-doubt homer off Jack Flaherty and added flair with a big bat flip and an even bigger strut. The next day, in what looked like a possible response, he got plunked by the first pitch from Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford. Castellanos seemed to check in with Yadier Molina to see if it was intentional. Yadi played it cool, offered a new ball, and everyone moved on. Castellanos reached third later and scored on a wild pitch, sliding into home where Woodford fell on top of him. Castellanos popped up and flexed in his face. That set everything off.
Molina immediately got into Castellanos’ face, and benches cleared. Mike Moustakas stepped in as peacemaker, grabbing Yadi and leading him away. Jesse Winker was on the outside, trying and failing to calm down others while getting a little heated himself. Castellanos stood off to the side, arms behind his back, not escalating things. The situation mostly cooled down. Then Jordan Hicks and Eugenio Suárez got into it on the way back to the bullpens. Hicks looked furious, possibly over someone holding back a Cardinals player.
In the end, there was a lot of movement and jawing, but not much happened beyond posturing. Castellanos never threw a punch, but his flex at home was enough to launch the season’s first bench-clearing moment. Tension felt high for April.