ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals held a good standing after sweeping their opening weekend against the Minnesota Twins. Willson Contreras also captured the attention of many while at bat, but for something unrelated to hitting the baseball.

If you were paying attention at the bottom of the third inning during Saturday’s game, you may have caught something rather odd—Contreras ripping the tape from his baseball bat with his mouth, then proceeding to chew it right before batting.

Sports Illustrated noted the moment as “far too casual,” and fans agreed as one replied to the video MLB posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, “Are the Cardinals not feeding him?”

Contreras spoke with the MLB following the game, explaining that as he already used a timeout and the timer was at 11 seconds—with three seconds to be alert before potentially risking a strike call—he had to act quickly regarding the tape unraveling on his bat.

Within four seconds, the tape was off the bat and in his mouth.

“That was a bad taste, really bad,” Contreras told the MLB. “I don’t try to put (pine tar or sticky spray) on my (bat), but it was disgusting. It was a bad taste.”

He added that he had never done that before, and hopefully would never have to again. Despite the attempt to avoid striking out, he ended up striking out anyways.

“With this clock, you have to do things that are out of your control,” he continued to say. “I struck out anyways, but I’d rather strike out swinging rather than by the clock.”

Contreras’ questionable decision has been posted all over social media, and even teammate Lars Nootbaar joined in on the fun by setting a picture of the moment as the team’s group chat picture.

The Cardinals are in Boston this weekend as they face the Red Sox.