Justin Verlander's brother completely overreacted to Dodgers' absence during HR Derby

The Dodgers side of social media was abuzz during the last few rounds of the Home Run Derby, and it wasn't just because Teoscar Hernández was on his way to becoming this year's unlikely winner. The couches set out for the Alec Bohm cheering section were packed with his fellow Phillies All-Stars and teammates — Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Trea Turner, and so on — but the Dodgers' area was conspicuously barren in comparison.

Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, and Tyler Glasnow were all there supporting Hernández during the first few rounds, but three of them trickled out as the competition wore on until only Glasnow (along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who stayed with the Dodgers to support his former teammate) remained.

This set off an unreasonable amount of parasocial speculation and finger-pointing online. "The Dodgers don't have the same camaraderie as the Phillies, and that's why they're not as good!"

Justin Verlander's brother and known Shohei Ohtani acolyte Ben Verlander unnecessarily hopped on that bandwagon three days after the event to dedicate a few minutes of his podcast to some good ol' rage baiting, saying "I was a little disappointed in [Hernández's] All-Star teammates."

Ben Verlander has yet another bad take on Teoscar Hernández's Home Run Derby win and Dodgers

To be fair, was it bad optics for three of four Dodgers to leave early while their teammate was on the way to a victory? Yes. However, as multiple fans have since pointed out, Freeman's sons were sick, Smith's wife Cara is pregnant, and Ohtani either had a meeting or has a very strict sleep schedule, depending on which quote tweet you read.

No matter what the reasons were, it's needless (and baseless) to speculate that Hernández's teammates left because they're not good teammates or because there's a problem in the Dodgers' clubhouse. Do the Phillies project an admirable sense of camaraderie? Sure, but that doesn't preclude the Dodgers from also having one.

It was a wild rabbit hole to go down in the moment, and even more baffling that Verlander would use his (unearned) platform to try to keep that flame lit when everyone else has moved on. The Dodgers have had a very rough stretch over the past month, but adding to ridiculous noise does absolutely zero good.

Hernández clearly loves where he's playing and the team he's been playing with (he also said he doesn't begrudge his teammates for leaving) and that's all that needs to be said.