Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty blasts Rays players who opted out of wearing Pride logo

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jake Flaherty took issue with several Tampa Bay Rays players who decided against wearing Pride patches in support of the LGBTQ+ community for Saturday's game as part of the team’s 16th annual Pride Night.

Rays pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson did not wear the Pride logo for the game against the Chicago White Sox over religious reasons, a move Flaherty slammed on social media.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 1, 2021.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

"Absolute joke," Flaherty wrote on Twitter in response to the Rays players' decision.

Adam told the Tampa Bay Times that the athletes who abstained from Pride Night celebrations did not make their decision to be judgemental and that they love and care for the members of the LGBTQ+ community.

SEVERAL RAYS PLAYERS BREAK FROM ORGANIZATION'S PRIDE NIGHT LOGOS, CITING RELIGIOUS REASONS

"A lot of it comes down to faith, to like a faith-based decision," Adam said. "So it’s a hard decision. Because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here."

"But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior, just like [Jesus] encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of