Nick Plummer defends St. Louis Cardinals after viral video

A viral video showed St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers sleeping in a banquet hall before a game, but Nick Plummer says it was an honest mistake.

A video that has gone viral on Twitter, getting over 900 retweets and 1800 likes from Advocates for Minor Leaguers, showed a video of some St. Louis Cardinals Double-A players sleeping in what appeared to be a banquet hall on July 19 before a series against the San Diego Padres’ Double-A affiliate.

Nick Plummer, a Cardinals minor-leaguer who has been dominating this season, had this to say about the incident in a Twitter thread:

“Would like to clarify the events last night/early this morning with our team not having rooms available in San Antonio. The Cardinals and our staff here in Springfield did everything in their power to be prepared to come in late last night after finishing the series in Frisco.

“Upon arrival at the hotel it was made known that they had no rooms blocked for us. Whether it was a miscommunication between the home club and hotel is beyond me. More importantly, we all received rooms by 9am from my knowledge and slept in and are enjoying the rest of our off day before the start of the series. These things do happen and we players are adaptable and determined to stay prepared for the next game amidst a little adversity.”

The incident, Plummer said, appeared to be an honest mistake. But it underscores once again how minor league players deal with suboptimal circumstances, such as housing, little pay and poor food options provided by the team, while still being expected to perform at a high level.

As of this writing, the Cardinals have not released a statement explaining their side of the story. But the team is known as one of the most organizationally friendly teams toward minor leaguers and should be given the benefit of the doubt, especially after Plummer stood up for the team amidst the controversy.