Marlins righty Jose Urena was the talk of the league last night, although not for reasons the organization would prefer. Urena was ejected after hitting red-hot Ronald Acuna on the elbow with a 97.5mph fastball — the hardest pitch he’s ever thrown, per Statcast — on the game’s first pitch. Acuna had led off three consecutive games with a home run. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan was among the many pundits who’ve excoriated Urena for his actions, calling them “cowardly” and imploring Major League Baseball to issue a suspension longer than the standard five games for Urena.
Intent, of course, is difficult to prove. However, it’s perhaps telling that Miami manager Don Mattingly seemed to acknowledge some disappointment in his right-hander. Via MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro:
“What we said with Jose is, ’I don’t want to see this kid get hit.’ He’s a great player,” said Mattingly of his talk with Urena after the ejection. “…For us, he’s beat us up, but this is not the way we want to handle that situation. Obviously, this is not something that we represent or believe in as an organization or myself, too. I would never want that kid getting hit and cause that kind of problem.”
Mattingly did tell reporters that Urena claimed to have only been trying to run a pitch inside on Acuna rather than hit him (per the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer, whose column also has quotes from Urena), but the manager also spoke on multiple occasions about the need for Marlins players to be cognizant of how the organization wants to be represented moving forward.
Frankly, it’s difficult to side with or defend Urena. There’s a difference between throwing inside and uncoiling at max velocity with an intent to hit a batter, and it appears that Urena chose to do the latter in response to Acuna’s torrid series at the plate. There will always be traditionalists who extol the game’s “unwritten” (and outdated) rules and point to the fact that these incidents have been a part of baseball for decades. But “that’s the way it’s always been done” isn’t a good defense in most walks of life, and the game has clearly evolved.
Urena’s actions didn’t help his team; to the contrary, an already-overtaxed Marlins bullpen had to cover a complete game upon his ejection, and the Braves went on to complete a four-game sweep while Urena watched from the sidelines. And to those who might think that Urena’s teammates appreciate him making a statement, the Marlins’ best player, J.T. Realmuto, said after the game (via Frisaro) that hitting Acuna “worked out terrible for our team.” Realmuto pointed to Miami’s overworked relief corps and plainly suggested that the team could’ve used six or seven innings out of Urena.
Initial x-rays on Acuna, meanwhile, were thankfully negative (Twitter link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), but he’s still set to undergo a CT scan to further clarify the status of his elbow. Even if he avoids major injury, though, it seems quite likely that the league will bring forth a suspension against Urena, in accordance with previous situations where the intent of the pitcher has been fairly plain to see.
A five-game ban for a starting pitcher has been standard operating procedure in these instances, though it’s clear that such punishments haven’t completely dissuaded pitchers from intentionally plunking opponents. Perhaps they never will, but there’s an argument to be made that steeper penalties ought to be put into place in an effort to at least lessen the likelihood of a recurrence. Even if Acuna is back in the lineup tonight, he’ll be in there after perhaps avoiding a serious injury by a matter of millimeters. Should it really take a serious injury to one of MLB’s most exciting young players to invoke change, or have we reached the point where a more proactive approach should be taken? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)
camdenyards46
Find out if anyone else had something to do with it, like Mattingly or the pitching coach.
b-rar
I’m sure that information is readily available. Subpoena the Marlins’ internal email system!
EndinStealth
You really think they’d be dumb enough to discuss something like that over email?
bobtillman
Obviously you never worked for the Democratic National Committee….
EndinStealth
Mic drop
JJB
I hear Mattingly used a personal server though and they can’t find his deleted emails, so we’re screwed.
Strauss
Send him to the North Korean league
acarneglia
Clearly did this intentionally and it wasn’t ordered by Mattingly. Urena should be suspended 10 games, the equivalent to two starts, and be fined. It’s simple, if a guy is owning your teammates, pitch better!
Paul Molitor
Longer than ten days
go_jays_go
I think the minimum should be 10 days for any suspension. A player on the DL has to miss at-least 10 days (days not games). Why should it be different for suspensions?
EndinStealth
Going on the dl isnt a punishment. It’s so they can get healthy. So the “has to” doesnt make sense.
skip 2
20!! Minimum!!
easykaya
Yes i agree but i want him to start agains the braves in 7-10 days and then serve the suspension
Ken In Sac
We had “Donnie don’t know baseball” in LA. This is exactly the kind of cowardly thing he would order.
dimitrios in la
I feel bad Acuna was hit but Urena’s pitch was not blatantly intentional. Might have been. Acuna, I’m sure, will also want to protect himself with some armor.
An additional comment here. Steve Adams’s thinking is quite flawed above. Particularly the notion that the game’s “unwritten” rules are simply “outdated.” Some are and some aren’t. Pitching inside to or brushing back a hitter who’s kicking your butt is totally a part of the game, and it should be. Pitchers do have a responsibility not to hurt someone (though that responsibility does not only lie with them), but it’s a big boy sport and they have every right to come in aggressively on guys, to make them uncomfortable.
Also the notion that the game “has clearly evolved” comes across as an intellectual cop-out here. In this context—I repeat, in this context—it’s more wishful thinking than reality. There’s clearly ample tension between the “new” unwritten rules and the “old” ones. Last night points to that, and it’s an ongoing discussion as to which is more legit and holds more sway.
Dandy
I’m not so sure. I think the part that is clear is that baseball has been moving away from this beanball mentality over the past decade or so and is not going back to the way it was before. Players cost owners lots and lots of money when they don’t play, especially ones like Trout and Buster Posey. When players like that don’t play, revenues go down. Acuna was generating a lot of interest in a Braves franchise that has been stuck in reverse for nearly a decade. Most people in baseball, especially the decision makers and check signers, do not want players like that to get hurt.
Rwm102600
I understand why people think he intentionally hit him, but if you’re trying to send a message, you don’t do it using the hardest pitch you’ve ever thrown. Plus, it’s not like Urena has pin-point control when throwing at his usual speeds. He could have simply overthrown the pitch and lost control.
87twins
That was crap from 60’s and 70’s! Doesn’t belong in today’s game. Urena should end the year on suspended list. Mattingly too! All he’s doing is blowing smoke. Donnie Matt’s was a great player, but a poor manager
TrueOutcomeFan
He hit him intentionally. It was blatant and undeniably obvious. It didn’t have a place in the game in 1850 and it doesn’t have a place in today’s game.
87twins
1850?
xabial
Suspend him until next time Marlins play the Braves. Months. Folty will hit him with a 98 MPH
Gogerty
They play each other in 7-10 days.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Lol!
The internet IS a wonderful thing!
bigkempin
This is the reason why you’re a downvote god. The Braves and Marlins have another series starting on the 23rd. That would be a stiff 7 game suspension where he misses 1 start……
All Baseball No Xabial
No kidding, can’t stand reading most of his comments!
mrnatewalter
Honestly, don’t be shocked if the penalty is less than 7 games.
majorflaw
“ . . . don’t be shocked if the penalty is less than 7 games.”
Cole Hamels was suspended five games in 2012 for intentionally hitting Harper, and Hamels admitted after the game that it was intentional. Don’t see why this intentional HBP would draw a longer sentence than that.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/7902128/cole-hamels-philad…
xabial
bigkempkin,
Please stop talking about down votes. If you guys are going to verbally eviscerate me for bringing it up, (I never talked about others..) Don’t show the same double standards to pple who contribute nothing to the convo, just talk about/bring up votes like it makes their NON-POINT post valid.
xabial
DiamondNRG,
Please stop making personal remarks that contribute nothing, take dig at me/ my posts . Honestly, I think i’ve contributed more than you (DiamondNRG) so I don’t care you “cant stand” reading most of my posts. Go away, Contribute to the debate or move on.
xabial
As far as the JOKE Folty hitting in retaliation for 97mph intentional pitch to his elbow. Yeah, I don’t take that back either. Where’s Tony La Russa when you need him? Honestly, this was my biggest pet peeve with Girardi. Never/seldom hits back or retaliates when NYY batters were everyone ****es.
The system is broken. He deserves at least a month IMO. It’s one thing to suck at your craft, but another to be blatantly intentional. Let’s forget he hit one of the rising stars, AND has history of it…
How intentional? Urena is First SP in the live-ball era to hit a batter on the only pitch he threw.
Urena the “wild” SP who took Turner out?. It’s ok! Turner crowds the plate! Turner gets hit alot. Urena has no control. He’s young….( excuses keep piling)
xabial
Finally, Mrnatewalter was right. probly ~7 games. I respect mrnatewalter, and agree that is the most likely outcome, but respectfully disagree if he thinks that’s enough time… I really believe should be one month (If intent is proven) IDC if/when Urena exercises his right to appeal (expect him to)
What a great example for kids. Btw Just cuz XRAYS are negative doesn’t mean Acuna’s off the hook. How many times did injuries show up later after false positives? *Cough* Brandon Drury? Teixeira?
Not a Braves fan, but I pray for Acuna’s future, (this season) and the FUTURE of this game if you guys approve because..wait for it.. “it’s been in the game for decades”
xabial
Judge was probably hurt MORE than ACUNA, but since the pitch looked LESS intentional, MUCH less intentional than Acuna’s HBP I’m not as pissed, even though damage to Judge (wrist) is most likely greater than Acuna’s. PRAY Acuna has a [non] injury. You guys kno I’m NOT BRAVES fan.
3rdStrikeLooking
Dont you ever get the feeling, based on consostent down vote hammering, that maybe you shouldnt comment?
jleve618
He’s one of the only people here I actually like. Most of you are so stupid.
majorflaw
“Do you ever get the feeling . . . that maybe you shouldn’t comment.”
Only a moron pays attention to ratings at this site. Which does explain your comment.
3rdStrikeLooking
….so says the penultimate narcissist on this site. You keep on being your big self….
majorflaw
“ . . . so says the penultimate narcissist on this site.”
I’m offended. Who beat me out for top honors? You do know what “penultimate” means, right sphincter.
Connorsoxfan
Casey
Priggs89
So everyone gets up in arms when Urena hits Acuna, but the best solution is for someone to now hit Urena? That’s some great logic. Either you want beanballs to be part of the game or you don’t. It can’t go both ways.
ldfanatic
It’s one thing if Urena or the previous pitchers were shown up. Then a bean ball is warranted. Trying to hurt a dude because he is playing at a higher level is Bush league af.
tonysbrewcrew00
His season has been a punishment enough lol
Meow Meow
Punish him by forcing him to continue playing for the Marlins.
noraj9
FOR LIFE
RunDMC
Force him into a no-trade clause with the Marlins.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Which might not be a penalty. Baseball with all the great Hispanic players dominating the game, plus being in Miami. I can see Jeter and company changing this team back to contenders again. Then keeping them that way, unlike that moron Loria.
mrnatewalter
I voted the first option because even 5 is too much. Guys have been suspended 2 or less games for far worse.
Is there really that much (or any) precedence for a 10 game suspension for intentionally throwing at someone?
phantomofdb
Well, to be fair, the “more than 10” option straight up tells you it would be to set a new precedent…
sr3895
For a starting pitcher, 5 is nothing. It delays a start by 1 game. They should do 5 times what they would give a non starting pitcher.
sidewinder11
Suspending a pitcher for two games does nothing though. He wouldn’t even miss a start. It has to be at least 5
Joe Kerr
It doesn’t do “nothing” in the sense that he would lose his pay for those 2 games but I do agree in needs to be more than 2 games, at absolute minimum make him miss 1 start.
cfams
Suspend him for the length of time Acuna needs to heal, plus 5 games.
Chucky25
that’s what I was thinking is fair
SKbreesy
So 5 games, because Acuna is playing tonight
fasbal1
This was a poor excuse for a professional and has no place in MLB. Acuna has owned the Marlins and will be in baseball 15 years past the last day Urena plays. Marlins should handle this in house.
andrewf
Perhaps refuse to let him play on an all star game if he ever gets selected to do so.
Connorsoxfan
That’s an odd punishment and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he should be handed a lengthy suspension, and this kind of thing shouldn’t happen. MLB has to come down on this because they need excitement in the game, and Acuna was providing that. The home runs, the bat flips, the celebrations, etc. are fun to watch, and this “unwritten rules” crap is asinine. I know it’s always been a part of the game, and it’s always been a flaw of the game.
tntdaddy
Marlins fan here.
Suspend him for as long as you want. Urena has hit 25 batters since the beginning of last season. He obviously threw at Acuna. He drilled 3 batters in the same inning after giving up a HR on the first pitch on opening day. The dude is trash. Marlins fans won’t miss him. Neither will anyone else.
acarneglia
Opposing offenses might lol
Mattimeo09
Not if they keep getting hit
reflect
Yeah I’d like to see the rules changed on this. I don’t care about intent at all. Pitchers are adults and they should be held responsible for the pitches they throw, intentional or not.
I think a better system would be a flat and objective one.
30 games for a pitch over 85 mph that hits the neck or head.
20 games for a pitch over 85 mph that hits anywhere else.
10 games for all other HBPs
This would give more leniency for breaking balls that are harder to control.
mrnatewalter
This might be the stupidest thing I’ve read all week. Might as well put the ball on a tee and let the players hit it, because no pitcher would be willing to pitch.
If this is the rule, can we ban Brandon Guyer from baseball?
tharrie0820
If you’re gonna intentionally throw at someone. throw an eephus door God’s sake, that way you make your point, I guess, and no one gets hurt….win/win
bruinsfan94 2
I think that might be the worst comment in the history of MLBTR
Joe Kerr
Nah, that was bad but it doesn’t even crack the top 5 from Casey’s Partner.
mlb1225
That would be horrible for pitchers focus. It would get to the point where pitchers wouldn’t want to throw inside at all in the event of risking a HBP.
mrnatewalter
Just so we’re all clear here:
A curve ball that nicks a batter in his toes would result in an immediate 10 game suspension (at the very least).
I honestly can’t think of a dumber idea.
Connorsoxfan
I want to see him handed a long suspension, but wow. Really?
Priggs89
So you want pitchers to be afraid of throwing inside? That’s certainly one way for offenses to get better.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Come to Maine. You need weed
xabial
I love you Reflect (you know we have no beef)
But where’s the comments about his “ratings”? Why just me. #Same person voting me down. Stop bringing it up
I wish I recieved half the courtesy you received for this apparent “unpopular” post, actual substantiated replies, that don’t attack me, as a person.
xabial
And for the record, I don’t ever remember disagreeing with you once Reflect. I like reading your posts. Anyway, I just wish I was provided the same respect and courtesy others provide you, even if it’s not popular opinion
It’s the internet, right?
Brett3333
Someone explain to me how guys like Nolan Ryan are beloved for intentionally hitting guys all over the place, but when a guy does the same thing now it is Horrific! The whole Ventura intentional plunking was a result of (Little Hurt) Craig Grobrek taking Ryan deep.
Either we stop loving on the old timers for plunking guys on purpose or we say it is part of the game.
B-
fasbal1
The difference is that Urena was not a part of the barrage that Acuna had put on the Marlins, he was simply a spectator who decided himself to become part of the equation. If Urena had given up a homerun and followed with a plunk, I think many would view it differently. it’s like watching a fight and then going and punching the winner in the face because u didn’t like the result.
Meow Meow
The only people who admire old-timey guys for throwing at batters are other old-timey guys (who happen to occupy a bulk of MLB broadcast positions)
GareBear
Pre-1901 baseball, the hitter got to tell the pitcher where they wanted the ball. We still have hitters from that era in the hall of fame because they were better than their peers of the era. The game evolved. Hitting batters USED to be part of the game. It evolved. Not a black and white issue like you are trying to make it out to be. It is now not acceptable any longer. 10 game suspension seems within reason but it honestly should be longer.
tharrie0820
Can we also suspend that Mets broadcaster for saying Urena had no choice but to hit Acuna?
ray_derek
would be great if we could…that is also BS
jkurk_22
Please do. That’s just tired and sad
c1234
I don’t get this. Just because he threw at a red hot player means he needs a longer suspension, look Carpenter got drilled last night on the wrist and not a single thing happened. Also Urena is the worst pitcher in the game so how do you know if it was intentional. I just don’t get why it’s this big of a deal.
c1234
Do the 5 game suspension if it was in fact intentional no need for a longer one
Steve Adams
It was the first pitch of the game after Acuna led off three straight games with a home run, and even Urena’s manager didn’t come out to defend him and say it was an accident.
Carpenter was hit when the pitcher was already ahead in the count — by a reliever who’d gone more than a week since his last appearance — as the Nationals were trying to cling to dwindling playoff hopes. There was nothing intentional about his HBP, which is why no one has made a big deal about it.
c1234
But why a longer suspension than 5 days? Intentional hits by batsmen happens all the time and it’s never more than a fine and 5 games.
Steve Adams
The argument for longer suspensions is right in your comment — this kind of thing keeps happening. If we can all agree that it’s bogus and the sport would be better without it (perhaps you don’t agree with that), then shouldn’t something be done to serve as more of a deterrent?
c1234
I meant around 5 games
Dandy
Simple, it’s both intent and context. There was absolutely no reason to hit this guy, even under the “unwritten rules.” This pitcher decided to try and hurt one of the best stories in baseball this year. The league isn’t going to stand for it.
c1234
I understand what he did was wrong and shouldn’t be happening in baseball that’s why there is IBB, the suspension system to be is all about the intent and to me it was intentional. I guess we will wait and see what the suspension is. But to me I think he should be getting the suspension less than 10 games.
c1234
To me I think when Joe Kelly hit Tyler Austin is a good example we all know it was intentional because of Kelly’s reaction, it was 6 games for Kelly.
c1234
Plus he threw a punch.
mrnatewalter
So it wasn’t 6 games for hitting the batter. It was 6 games for hitting a batter AND fighting (probably more emphasis on the fighting). Kelly got the same suspension Hunter Strickland got.
Ureña didn’t fight. I have a hard time seeing MLB getting away with suspending a guy for more than Kelly when he did less than Kelly.
c1234
I’m thinking the same thing.
Steve Adams
That’s quite possible but it’d put the MLBPA in a weird spot. They’d be arguing to reduce the sentence of a player who was suspended for potentially injuring one the game’s brightest young stars. At a certain point, doesn’t it behoove the Union to begrudgingly allow the precedent to move forward a bit if it protects talent — be it a star like Acuna or a little-known utility player — from getting hurt?
Injuries will, after all, significantly detract from a player’s earning capacity in arbitration — more so than an extra missed start for a pitcher. It’s a fine line to walk, and an uncomfortable one for them, but they can’t be happy to see guys getting beaned intentionally.
juicemane
Oh ok, Nostradamus over here, and he has pitch counts to prove it. If being ahead in the count makes it seem like the pitcher is not trying to hit the batter….DON’T YOU THINK THE BASEBALL PLAYERS ALREADY KNOW THIS?
LOL sorry not trying to blow your mind and your credibility in two sentences but you made it way too easy.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Today is 98 years since Ray Chapman got plunked.
majorflaw
“At a certain point, doesn’t it behoove the Union to begrudgingly allow the precedent to move forward a bit if it protects talent . . . “
1. The MLBPA will always represent its individual members. In this case that means Ureña, as Acuña isn’t being disciplined.
2. If MLBPA members want to change the rules or enforcement re: intentional HBP they can do so through collective bargaining with MLB. The union isn’t gonna sit on their hands while one of their members is disciplined because they agree with the sentiment. Unions don’t work that way, Steve. I could tell stories….
juicemane
Oh ok, Nostradamus over here, and he has pitch counts to prove it. If being ahead in the count makes it seem like the pitcher is not trying to hit the batter….DON’T YOU THINK THE BASEBALL PLAYERS ALREADY KNOW THIS?
LOL sorry not trying to blow your mind and your credibilty in two sentences but you made it way too easy.
Meow Meow
MLB and affiliates spent an entire day’s news cycle on Acuna and his streak. MLB sells storylines, and this was a very bad, embarrassing look for them. If they want to really start putting their foot down on this stuff, this would be a pretty optimal time to do it.
ray_derek
I’m fine with pitchers hitting the batter in certain situations, not in this case. The guy has been beating you with his bat, did not showboat, bat flip, talk trash etc, no reason for him to get drilled…especially on the first pitch of the game. Total BS move that he needs to be suspended a long time for, 10+ in my eyes. Intent is the key, I think we can all agree that was done on purpose.
Dandy
Beanball is dumb, no matter how you slice it. What sport allows you to take the equipment and try to hurt the other player intentionally with it? At least in hockey, they drop the sticks, use their fists, and both players get the same opportunity.
Priggs89
Good point. Maybe the batter should be able to rush the mound with his bat in hand. That way they can both use equipment to try to hurt the other player intentionally with it. That’d stop pitchers from throwing at guys.
MetsYankeesRedSox
What would Juan Marichal do?
GareBear
I think most people would agree that they are more passive if the batter is clearly upstaging the pitcher/opposing team but even then anything in the head-shoulder-elbow area is intent to injure. Legs or lower back is really the only passable spot even then. It’s still a bad look for both team. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Priggs89
“but even then anything in the head-shoulder-elbow area is intent to injure. Legs or lower back is really the only passable spot even then.”
In Urena’s defense (not that he deserves one), he did throw at Acuna’s lower back. The only reason it hit him in the elbow is because Acuna pulled his elbow back into the ball.
No, that’s not me defending what Urena did or saying that Acuna needs to learn how to better get out of the way of a 97mph fastball. Just saying what happened.
Connorsoxfan
I think people want to see the showboating, the bat flips, and the trash talking, but that’s another story.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Pitchers strike a guy out and give a fist pump. Batters flip bats. I love both.
sidbream1991
If he did it on purpose, he should be suspended for 30 games. Second occurrence would be 60, then 90, 120, etc.
It’s hard to prove intent, but the whole league seems to think it was on purpose. Seems ridiculous that he would throw at a guy just for being good, but it happens more than any of us would like.
petfoodfella
30 day suspension. Will be dropped down to 10-15, which is acceptable to me. It was 100% intentional.
casualatlfan
While intent can be difficult to prove, it’s also worth mentioning to explain the circumstances that Acuna came into last night’s game with a streak of five games where he hit a home run, the last three of which involved a leadoff homer (and the last two on the first pitch), hence why many are skeptical of it being an accident (even with him already having 10 HBP heading into the game)..
Steve Adams
I should’ve called out Acuna’s three consecutive leadoff homers, good point. It was such a major storyline that I took for granted that everyone was aware of it, but that’s probably not the case. I added a sentence in the intro.
The_Porcupine
At minimum, suspension for throwing at a batter should correlate to the amount of time the batter may miss with injury. And blatant situations like with Urena need to have a stiffer penalty.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
I’m all for this… and partially for what is probably an odd reason. I remember a few years ago when somebody threw at Shane Victorino intentionally. Victorino’s reaction was classic – he made it clear that he understood that somebody on the team was going to get thrown at, but that doesn’t mean you should “throw to kill.” Stay away from the head and the joints, and if you feel you have to plunk somebody, do so in the rear end.
If what The_Porcupine suggests were ever to be adopted, a pitcher who plunks a guy will serve a suspension of, say, five games PLUS any time the batter misses because of injury. Plunk him in the butt, you likely miss five games. Intentionally hit a guy on the elbow or in the head where he misses playing time, you’re not allowed to pitch again until the batter returns to the lineup AND you’ve served five extra games. The more damage you do, the more it costs you.
realistnotsucker
Pitchers continue to hit with only minor repercussions, can’t wait for the day a hitter runs to the mound with a bat then we’ll see how often guys are hit
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
From the distant past, look up “John Roseboro and Juan Marichal.”
Gordon Lightfoot
Urena made a poor choice and should miss his next two starts. The phrasing of starting pitcher suspensions in MLB is misleading.
mrnatewalter
Are players only paid for games in which they play, or are they paid for every game they are on the roster for?
Because that matters here. Suspensions seem more to do with pay than they do with missing games in the lineup.
Steve Adams
Players are paid per day on the roster, not per appearance.
That said, I think it’s still fair to argue that a five-game suspension is less meaningful and less of a deterrent for a starting pitcher than for a position player or a reliever. A starter basically just gets an extra day of rest between starts when he’s suspended.
The lost pay is obviously a slap on the wrist, but it amounts to something along the lines of $14-15K of Urena’s salary. When you’re earning well over half a million dollars in a season, sure that stings, but it’s not backbreaking.
Doubling that and causing him to actually miss multiple starts for taking an action that could have legitimately shelved another player for weeks/months isn’t a stretch to me.
mrnatewalter
That’s the equivalent of a guy making 50K getting fined 1,500. That certainly would be back=breaking to most folks.
Ureña should be suspended. What he did was stupid and dangerous, and the MLB should go to the drawing board in the winter and make a new rule pertaining suspensions for this nonsense. But I believe rule changes should never be made in the middle of a season.
Steve Adams
I get the argument, but at a certain point it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison to liken a Major League player’s salary to the earnings of someone with a normal salary. A $1500K fine might force someone earning $50K to make serious changes to their lifestyle for a bit, yes. That is less likely to be the case for Urena.
But, I can recognize where you’re coming from in calling for offseason changes over in-season changes. I’d counter by stating that changing the precedent in this type of scenario isn’t changing an on-field rule and therefore wouldn’t really alter the play or outcome of the 2018 season.
If a change is made in the offseason, though, that’s better than nothing.
mrnatewalter
And to be honest, a lot of this is on the MLB. They’ve known this is a problem, and they’ve done next to nothing to make a rule.
But I look at recent cases, something like Hunter Strickland, who intentionally threw at one of MLB’s golden boys AND threw punches, and only got 6 games.
That was six games for a guy on a league minimum contract. And since suspensions have to take pay into account, I don’t know how they can suddenly say to Ureña that he has to lose 10-20 games worth of pay for something others got much, much less for.
I get the passion and fun around Acuña, but the MLB ought to be level-headed in a suspension here. There is no grounds for much more than 3-5 games.
Connorsoxfan
The argument is that this should be the grounds for a longer suspension, and doing this now would set a precedent for doing so again in the future.
mrnatewalter
One other thought:
I don’t think it’s fair of us to say, “oh, they make 500K, what’s a fifteen thousand dollar fine?”
It’s 15K. Whether that puts them back on a house payment or it’s a total fart in the wind, what’s the difference? It’s still 15K, and that’s likely not chump change to someone on a league-minimum contract.
MLB has to consider things like pay for suspensions. And if they aren’t making other players, even within this calendar year, lose that much for similar infractions, it’s wrong to make someone else.
Gogerty
I would say IF MLB and Miami want to send a message to him, MLB suspends him 10 games.
Since Miami will inevitably bring up a kid who wants a chance, when the suspension is done, send him down for a few starts.
tharrie0820
I guess the real question is, why would they set a new precedent? He didn’t throw at his head or anything. I feel like people are getting caught up over the fact that Acuna is such a stud at 20 and it’s causing them to overreact. People get thrown at all the time and we don’t get these polls Everytime it happens. Not saying it’s right or anything
Steve Adams
It’s not because Acuna is young or because he’s hot — it’s because this instance was so plainly obvious, and we’re well past the point where we should be condoning this type of action.
At some point, the punishment needs to go up, and there’s always going to be a point where the conversation surrounding that advancement becomes louder. This was meathead baseball at its most egregious level, and it’s a significant talking point among fans right now, so I elected to give it some play on MLBTR for our readers to be able to discuss.
tharrie0820
Don’t get me wrong, as a Braves fan im pissed about this, and that’s me trying to keep it family friendly. I absolutely think Urena should be suspended, I just can’t ever remember there being this big of an uproar after an intentional HBP
RunDMC
I agree, but bias aside, I’m trying to thing of another instance where it was so plainly obvious – both in the facts and the body language/reaction from the other team (i.e. Realmuto, Mattingly) – that there was intent in not only beaning someone, but injuring him (that was the fastest he’s thrown all year @ 97.5 mph).
Dandy
Come on. He’s never faced Acuna before. Acuna plays the game “the right way”. There was absolutely no reason to hit him. It’s not like Acuna acts like Harper, constantly staring and barking at pitchers. Acuna plays like Trout, lots of energy and enthusiasm, but with no disrespect.
Plus, beanball is stupid and this ass has a history of beaning players, not for their actions, but when he gets frustrated.. What if he broke this kid’s wrist? Is that good for baseball? It’s not.
twentyforty
FYI, so you have it correct when you complain about it, “beaning” someone means hitting them in the head. Hitting them in the elbow is not “beaning” someone. You sound high schoolish when you use incorrect terms.
bravesfan1970
I had no idea either. I thought beaning someone meant simply hitting him with a pitch. Makes sense now that you said it.
majorflaw
“Makes sense now that you said it.”
“Bean” is an old slang word for “head”, hence a “beanball” is a pitch aimed at the head. Remember, you can get kneed in the bean but not beaned in the knee.
RunDMC
What’s interesting is that it looks like he was aiming for the back and Acuña awkwardly turned into it then away exposing his elbow. I know it’s a split second reaction, but I wish he could have kept turning in so it would have gotten him in the back. Not sure they are teaching some guys how to take a hit to reduce injuries.
Dandy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanball
It just means hitting a player on purpose to hurt them, but just like the “unwritten” rules of baseball, the definition will change to suit whatever argument the “purists” want to make.
Regardless, the point stands. Urena shouldn’t have hit, beaned, or thrown at Acuna for the simple fact Acuna has been crushing the baseball.
bravesfan1970
Makes perfect sense. I can’t believe that I’ve watched baseball for so many years and didn’t catch on to the actual meaning of “beanball”. Never too old to learn something, I guess.
formerlyz
He has a history of hitting batters b/c he has no command, and his 2 seamer, which is his main pitch, has a lot of arm side run
BravesCanada
So Acuña should stop being good or risk guys purposely injuring him? Protect the victim, don’t defend the guy who quite clearly tried to send a message “stop being good”. Urena wouldn’t be in a single other team’s rotation. He’s garbage and didn’t want to be embarrassed by getting taken deep. He plays for a last place team and he had nothing to lose.
twentyforty
See Tim Hudson, Braves SP, June 9, 2007. Then piss and moan as a Braves fan.
Zach725
It’s almost like the game is different than it was in 2007.
grey150
It’s a big deal because Acuña had a chance at making history with his home run streak and it was taken away from him because the pitcher was to much of a coward to try to beat him and be competitive. he basically just said he can’t hit a home run off of me if i hit him first. it was the easy way out. Any pitcher with any respect for the game would want to see if they can beat one of the hottest hitters on the planet and not just take the easy way out. If you don’t want to play against the best players in the majors and see if your stuff is good enough to be a major league, go play somewhere else.
Jon429
Yes he didn’t throw at his head, but a 97 mph fastball can still break bones ending a player’s season and possibly career. It’s only a matter of time before an intentional pitch does that, especially with how much harder pitchers can throw a ball nowadays.
I don’t watch baseball to see players get hit or to see fights. Save that crap for hockey. I watch to see guys like Acuna set records, which this pitch possibly robbed him of that opportunity.
With the new precedent I see it like this: The Braves got nailed with a penalty last Fall for breaking international signing rules. No one is saying they didn’t deserve what they got, but the penalty was way harsher than any that have been handed down to other clubs for doing similar things. The message was clear that MLB wanted to stop the rule breaking. I think this merits a similar response from the commissioners office. At least something harsh enough that pitchers will think twice about intentionally throwing at batters.
nelsonj6
If he would have broken his elbow, would that be worth somewhere between a bruised forearm and a shot to the head. You suspend based on the act, not where the ball was thrown. You don’t throw a 97 mph fastball at someone and not intend to hurt someone.
Skin Blues
If he’d thrown a 98MPH fastball at his girlfriend he’d be gone for 80 games. Intentionally hitting a batter should be something like 20 games first offense, 50 games second offense, and so on. Get it out of the game.
Campbell Griffin
Suspend him 30 games
Campbell Griffin
30 Days not games
OCTraveler
Suspend him now and then add 5 more games onto it once Acuna returns to the line up
sacball
suspend Mattingly for as long as Ureña is suspended
Golden Boy
I’ve noticed this before with Steve- and mostly only with Steve- but please stop interjecting your personal opinion into MLBTR articles. Nobody cares that Steve Adams considers baseball’s unwritten rules to be outdated. You are as bad as the so-called journalists who inject their (almost always leaning one way….) opinions into “news’ articles.
The ejection was more than enough. Getting hit is part of the game.
T_Rexx2
Go away
Golden Boy
Why? Did I hurt youre feelings?
Syndergaarden Cop
“you’re” nice malapropism, troll
BravesCanada
So Trout should be thrown at at least twice a week in your eyes?
Steve Adams
I deliberately keep my opinion out of most things I write, and I acknowledge that I chose not to do so in this instance because it’s an issue that I feel strongly about and it’s a poll rather than any sort of explanation on a trade or anything involving breaking news.
You don’t have to care about my opinion, and I’m not bothered that you don’t care about my opinion. That’s your right.
I chose to editorialize in this rare instance, but still left an option for those who wholly disagree with me, and I welcome the rebuttal. I’m here in the comments right now because I anticipated some comments like this one.
We’ve had readers request more opinions to be inserted into posts, and we’ve had those like you push back when our staff does so. I can’t say that I’ll refrain from doing so entirely in the future, but this is a pretty rare instance and that’ll largely continue to be the case. Sorry it’s not something you care for, but I felt compelled to do so a bit in this instance.
For the record — this isn’t a “news” article. It’s a poll, which by definition is seeking opinions rather than straight feeding the news. If/when the league brings forth punishment on Acuna, there’ll be an MLBTR post laying out the facts for why he was punished, if he appeals, etc., and it’ll be free of the writer’s opinion.
Golden Boy
Wow you left an option for people who disagree with you to vote on in a POLL…how noble.
Steve Adams
I’m also here in the comments welcoming your criticism and trying to have an actual discussion with you about it, which doesn’t seem to interest you.
That’s all well and good, but if you’re not interested in actually discussing something, I’ll just say your criticism is noted and move on.
All Baseball No Xabial
You really are a jackwagon… get off of him… state your opinion and move on like everyone else… trashing the author for having an opinion on an article that asks for opinions is idiotic.
realgone2
This guy is just a loser troll. Ignore him
Golden Boy
I havent seen one person ask for more opinions btw but ive seen many ask for less (the silent majority?)
Steve Adams
We conduct chats with thousands of readers each week and have a contact form on the site that opens the door for reader criticism and feedback. We also conduct surveys on our content.
There are plenty of our readers who wish we’d spend more time ripping the free-agent deals, extensions and trades that we don’t like. There are many, like you, who appreciate the fact that we don’t inject our opinion very often. Generally speaking, we choose to keep our opinions out of news and rumor posts. This is neither.
Golden Boy
anonymous sources i see lol
realgone2
I got an idea, you jerk off. Why don’t you start your own baseball news site?
Steve Adams
I mean, there are people replying to this very comment thread who seem to be fine with it, but sure, plenty of anonymous feedback as well (much as many of the asks to refrain from editorializing are anonymous).
At any rate, you seem more interested in picking arguments and trolling than you do in having any kind of rational discussion, so I’ll leave you to it. Cheers.
MetsYankeesRedSox
That’s a good ol’ New Jersey phrase…but appropriate!
Dandy
Hey Steve, ignore this guy. Good article.
Baseball’s “unwritten” rules are stupid. Mostly because they are “unwritten” and they seem to morph to whatever circumstance defends whoever is talking about them.
Dandy
Hey Genius, did you read the title?
How Should MLB Punish Jose Urena?
That is an obvious title for an opinion piece and, as you seem to not understand, an opinion piece will contain opinions.
Connorsoxfan
Build that wall, am I right…
refereemn77
You are just the worst kind of person. If you don’t like “so-called journalists” stop reading anything ever written. Go crawl in a hole somewhere and leave the rest of us alone.
Tom
Obviously it was intentional, and done with the support of his manager and the team. Therefore, if MLB really wants to change the culture and prevent things like this from happening, the punishment should be swift and severe. Both the player and manager should be suspended for the remainder of the season, and the team should be fined and stripped of a high draft pick.
Golden Boy
lol. snowflake. find a new sport.
BravesCanada
You think Trout or Judge should be thrown at a few time per week then?
Dandy
Nobody is going to throw at Judge. Can you imagine that guy charging you on the mound? It would take the entire infield to get him to the ground.
Golden Boy
I dont care who hits who. that will be settled on the field, by another hpb which you hate so much
Dandy
I do hate it. The position players don’t get to pick the ball up and throw it back at the pitcher while the pitcher has to stand still. The whole thing is just silly.
Golden Boy
the other pitchers take care of it — unwritten rules
Connorsoxfan
The unwritten rules are ridiculous. Baseball has to evolve, or it will always be the southern white man’s game.
Tom
How is that being a snowflake? Baseball—and all sports, and life for that matter—is much different than it was in the past. And you know what? If a pitcher comes out and hits a player because his team’s player has been hit intentionally, fine. If you want to hit a player for showing you up on the field and embarrassing you, fine. But Acuna was hit simply because he’s been playing great. Throwing at him because he’s better than you is being a little bitcch, and that’s being a “snowflake”.
Dandy
I don’t think his manager nor his teammates approved of this action. Realmuto seemed annoyed he did it.
sportsfan 2
Urena should be suspend for 10 games plus. You cannot hit someone Intentionally just because he has been hitting home runs against your team. It’s not like he was flipping his bats trying to show your team off. If you want him to not hit home runs against him you either throw a better pitch or you walk him.
Dandy
Acuna got hit for playing out of his mind. When your own teammates and managers aren’t throwing out the normal platitudes about the ball slipping or some other nonsense, you did it on purpose. Everybody saw it and everybody knows what happened.
Suspend this guy for 30 games. It’s not like the Marlins can’t call up another triple A player to go along with most of the rest of their roster..
nats3256
There is really no mystery as to what shoukd happen. In Bryce Harpers rookie year he was hit by Cole Hamels. After the game Hamels admitted he did it on purpose. He was suspended for 5 games. So there is already precedent….Although one could argue he should receive less time because he has not admitted he did it on purpose, but you can not go over 5 games.
Dandy
Hamels should have been suspended longer than that. As much as I don’t like Harper, hurting a young player on purpose, just because they are good, is one of baseball’s dumber “unwritten” rules.
thatdudetg
Punish him by making him stand in the batters box against a pitcher who can throw with equal or greater velocity.
Then give him a 10 game. ♂️
djhorvath
I’m sorry but no one on here or anywhere can determine intent, only uRena knows, which of course he publicly denies… This is baseball, one of the best ways to slow a hot hitter down is make them uneasy at the plate. This is done with hard inside fastballs. Pitchers are human, they don’t have 100% accuracy; Scherzer, Kershaw, sale, all hit people from time to time. URena is tied for the highest number of hits bats men this year, that says he likes to throw inside and doesn’t have the best command. The ball wasn’t at Acunas head, it was mid body where 99% of the time the batter takes it to the back… in this case the batter didn’t turn enough and got nailed in his elbow. So URena threw his hardest pitch ever, facing a young stud, amped up for the game and the situation, seeing him throw his hardest is expected.
This is not anything new in baseball regardless of intent, it happens nearly everyday. I’m sorry but if I was in URenas shoes, I would have tried to make a blazing fastball inside on acunas hands to jam him up, back him off the plate, and make him uneasy.
Some of the greatest pitchers to play the game put fear in to hitters, bob Gibson and don drysdale for example, admitted to throwing at guys, not with intent to hurt but to remind the batter he owns that plate.
Making pitchers scared to throw inside for fear of lash back from hitting a guy will take away from the game drastically.
Dandy
His own manager and teammates declined to come to his defense. That tells you everything you need to know. I promise hitting Acuna was discussed in the clubhouse and the consensus was not to hit him. Then Urena went out and did it anyway. Realmuto obviously thought it was foolish.
2012orioles
Best comment I’ve read on here. Look at syndergaard in the World Series. To me that’s the best way to do it. I’m not really for hitting them just because they’re hot, but am for making them feel that the pitcher owns the plate. Nothing shoulders up though. I’m for hitting players intentionally if the team is bunting/stealing up big late in the game, or being arrogant, stuff like that.
julyn82001
Suspend Urena and send him back to elementary school so they teach him good manners…
Tha Dilla
Vicente Padilla had a long history to hitting batters on purpose. And the last suspension he recieved was seven games.I remember the last guy he hit on purpose caused the other team to hit Mike Young on purpose. Padilla was seen laughing on the bench after young was hit which caused the Rangers to release him soon after. Payback is coming for Urena. It doesnt matter how long you make a suspension. Guys like this will always be around.
Dandy
The league also used to be only white players. Things change.
Skin Blues
If there were real suspensions for these guys, it would happen a lot less. If a guy is willing to take a 30 game suspension without pay then there’s not much you can do to prevent it form happening. But 5 games? That’s nothing.
b-rar
That’s just good old-fashioned country hardball!*
* Applies to white, US-born players only
Golden Boy
urena is white now?
2012orioles
Holy cow another race baiter… if it’s a race issue, then why would “racist whites” be defending Acuna? Is he white? Zero logic
bravos14
In the context of baseball, suspension for 10 games for Urena and an organizational fine of $50,000.
In the real world it would be considered assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. If convicted, punishment up to 20 years in prison.
Golden Boy
your such a snowflake lmfao
sufferforsnakes
Remember a certain Indians pitcher who used to act like this? Said pitcher eventually matured, learned from his mistakes, and is now one of the better pitchers in baseball — Carlos Carrasco.
The same can happen with this kid.
beyou02215
Assuming that Urena doesn’t see the Braves this year, who should the Braves throw at? Realmuto? Has to be someone.
Dandy
They’ll wait until next year, which is just another reason why this bean ball nonsense should stop.
c1234
Or you know, just be classy and not be an embarrassment like the Marlins.
Blooper
There are a lot of things that were done in the past that are unacceptable today. This should be added to the list. Sure throw inside but if you hit him big mistake. It would be tragic to lose a major star for any length of time because of this. There is also risk of serous injury with a 97mph fastball. 15 games at least.
Golden Boy
acuna is mediocre at best not a major star.
realgone2
That’s some mediocre trolling.
Golden Boy
funny i thought the same about you…..snowflake..
Connorsoxfan
Ooh you called an 8th person a snowflake after you made the most asinine statement I’ve seen in awhile, great work.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Lol mediocre posting!
Post of the day!!
Dandy
265 AB
49 Runs
17 Doubles
1 Triple
8 Stolen Bases
19 Homeruns
.924 OPS
Aged 20 years.
Yup, that’s replacement level right there.
juicemane
Did Urena do this on his own accord? Absolutely not,
So to punish him would mean we need to start to assume when pitchers are throwing at hitters. Now if that isn’t a can of worms idk what is.
And we have to punish everyone from this day forward. And if that isn’t another can of worms idk what is.
If Kershaw/Lester/Verlander/Etc. other white pitchers throw at anybody for any reason nobody really makes that big a deal. Wonder why?
Dandy
From Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports today:
Isn’t it time we started calling pitchers who do what Ureña did – bury a baseball into a hitter because the hitter had the audacity to be great – exactly what they are? Coward works. So does chicken. Or yellow. Anything to stigmatize the stupidity of this act, which is so old, so tired, so beyond stupid and so contrary to the objective of the game: be better than your opponent.
I think that hits why people are so outraged over this particular incident. You can compare it to other beanings with pitchers and batters with history, but you aren’t comparing apples to apples. Urena had no history with Acuna. He hit him solely because Acuna is playing great baseball. Cowardly is the only word for it. Instead of competing, he tried to remove Acuna from the game (which he ultimately did.) He’s a coward.
Here is the entire article, there are some wonderful nuggets in it:
sports.yahoo.com/jose-urenas-cowardly-actions-rona…
hurricanewar23
Trade him to Cleveland browns and force him to play football! That’s punishment
Golden Boy
cole hamels admit he hit bryce harper on purpose and people were so much less outraged. bc harper is white?
Dandy
Because Bryce Harper is an ass. If you hit Trout like that, people would go ape over it.
But you’re a troll. Enjoy trolling along.
Golden Boy
acuna is a show-upper too like harper….but i guess in the mind of a liberal only white guys can be ‘asses’
Dandy
That must be one large crystal ball you have.
Connorsoxfan
I didn’t know hitting a home run was showing someone up.
majorflaw
“acuña is a show-upper too like Harper….”
At the time Hamels intentionally hit Harper the latter had been in MLB for all of about a week. He had never faced Hamels before. You are justifying intentionally hitting a batter in the absence of any reason other than that Hamels wanted to do it because of what he had heard about Harper. Lame.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Every time I’ve seen Urena pitch he’s been terrible and absurdly wild, so I would normally say it’s hard to determine intent when the guy can barely pitch, but…
He lined up right at Acuna. The intent was obvious.
Dandy
Makes you wonder how much better of a pitcher he would be if he tried throwing that type of pitch over the plate.
TheAdrianBeltre
Done for season, and maybe in to next(when Miami actually has games that matter). 7.000/8.000 service time free agent, so he’s stuck in Miami another year or two… Sounds harsh and it is…
MNev
Acuna’s elbow kept him from getting hit in the back. Urena needs a serious lesson in sportsmanship from the league.
hiflew
The only thing that bugs me about this is that the only reason there is so much outrage is because it happened to one of the chosen few special players. If this had happened to a player of the Reds or the Padres or the Royals or the Rangers or someone else to the Marlins, there would barely be a blip on the radar. But since it was a “special player,” then obviously things need to change. Urena already missed a start since he was ejected after the first pitch. Suspend him for 5 games and let’s move on. No need to create a new “Buster Posey” rule because of this.
Dandy
That doesn’t follow any sort of logic. If it had been a regular player, Urena wouldn’t have felt the need to hit him.
Golden Boy
in fact it did happen to the reds last week….the nats obviously hit votto (harper got hit with a breaking ball the inning before and had to leave lol) on purpose, 97 to the knee and hes been hurting since. nobody cares nationally.
hiflew
Good point. I was watching that game and it was clearly done on purpose. And no one even got ejected.
Steve Adams
I don’t think it’s solely because it happened to Acuna, though. If this had been any player who led off three straight games with a homer and then got drilled on the first pitch (by a pitcher with a history of questionable behavior and hitting batters), there’d be similar eye rolling.
To me, it’s an issue largely because the intent was so clear. There will always be people who want the game to remain unchanged and who want a more hard-nosed version of baseball back, but the general reaction to Acuna’s plunking and the results of this poll largely reflect that a pretty substantial portion of MLB’s fan base wants this type of incident to be left in the past.
Whether it was Ronald Acuna or Charlie Culberson getting drilled, the sentiment is the same, as far as I’m concerned.
hiflew
In an ideal world, I agree with you. But we don’t live in an ideal world. And certain people get preferential treatment based on similar incidents. The guy above mentioned Joey Votto getting hit in the inning following a Harper HBP and nothing happened there.
I’m not defending Urena here. Suspend the guy for 5 games and be done with it. All I am saying is that precedents have been set for suspensions in cases like this, there is no need to reinvent the wheel just because this a hot young rookie.
Dandy
A precedent is nothing more than what you did in the past. At some point, they had to start suspending pitchers for this stuff because they didn’t always do it. They can set a new precedent here.
mrnatewalter
A judge likely can’t get away with charging a guy with 75 years for speeding when he gave the previous guy a $100 fine.
The best way is to try and get it changed outside the confines of the case on hand.
In the same way, Major League Baseball would be best to look at precedence in this case and try and stop these with harsher punishments set through a rule change.
Connorsoxfan
The precedent needs to be changed because this shouldn’t happen. MLB is worried about not attracting a young audience, and if everytime an exciting player pops up, he gets hit for breaking “unwritten rules” by playing well, they’re not going to bring in more viewers.
hiflew
So basically you are saying exactly what I was arguing against, that certain players should get special treatment. Besides, there are absolutely no “unwritten rules” against playing well. There are for showing up the other team though. And if a player can’t be exciting without showing up the other team, then maybe he needs to learn a lesson.
formerlyz
He has a history of hitting batters b/c he has never had command of anything in his life
itslonelyatthetrop
Suspend him for the rest of the season. It would make an example of such conduct while not effecting a playoff landscape.
Best to just throw at a batter’s rear end. No broken bones and a reminder every time he sits down.
citizen
Suspend urena 10 games and the union will complain. So make it 15 and drop it down to 10. Though that won’t happen. Home run strickland only got 2 or 3 games suspension for a multi-year grudge. Suspending mattingly would do him a favor in not having to manage a aaa team. Ureana is bush league.
Dandy
I agree. Suspend him 30 or so games, let the Union appeal and drop it down some. Everybody feels ok with it.
The truth is, Urena’s own teammates didn’t defend him on this. No one in baseball thinks that was ok.
tomselleck
Trade him to the Expos
ThatBallwasBryzzoed
Whose worse than Miami? KC, Baltimore? Padres. He’s suffering a lot already.
Connorsoxfan
Trade him to Sugar Land haha
MetsYankeesRedSox
Get a Delorean and take him back to the Spiders last season and drop him off.
Solaris601
No suspension. The league need only require MIA to insert Urena into the lineup and bat him leadoff in the first game of their next series with the Braves. Braves’ SP starts the game in the OF, and Acuna takes the mound to face Urena. Whatever happens happens.
Colorado Red
Yes,
That is why there are fewer bean balls wars in the national league.
Should have hit an MIA player at an appropriate time latter in the game.
Captain Dunsel
Agreed. Another example of why the NL should never adopt the DH.
JJB
#ThoughtsAndPrayers to Acuna. I’ll throw in my condolences for no additional charge as well.
No Soup For Yu!
The problem with suspending starting pitchers is that they never miss more than a game or two, whereas relievers and position players miss a lot more. The problem with suspending starters for longer is because if you suspend them for 20 games for a 4 game suspension worthy offense, they lose 20 games worth of pay. No one else has that problem.
What I propose for starters is that you get suspended for say 5 games, you miss one start and you lose 5 games worth of pay. You then lose only one additional game worth of pay for every additional five games added to that suspension. I.e. a 10 game suspension, the starter only loses 6 days pay. That allows the league to be more punitive according to the offense and keep players like Urena out longer all without drawing too much ire from the MLBPA
Colorado Red
Come on guys, this is part of the game.
Do not throw at the head, else to dig in, and pitch inside.
The BP going 9 innings, and the ejection are enough.
All the cry baby fans of the braves should shut up.
c1234
Don’t blame Braves fans being upset. They just want to watch Acuna play because he’s fun to watch.
Connorsoxfan
The point is that this shouldn’t be a part of the game, because the game is flawed in this instance.
bosoxforlife
I do not think that it is only Braves fans that are up in arms over this. Most baseball fans appear to be taking a position that Urena’s actions were unacceptable. The argument that It has been part of the game is outdated, as Steve Adams said in the article. Times change and just because it has been that way doesn’t make it right. This was also a special situation, important enough for MLB to cut to it, and Urena acted like a spoiled brat. His actions after the pitch showed intent and he needs a long suspension.
Sid Bream
You’ve obviously never played any sport in your life. This is not part of sport, there was no history between these two players, simply Urena did not want Acuna to play because he was playing great baseball. Urena is nothing but a scumbag and a coward without peer. This is a sport, if Urena can’t stand being beaten then maybe he should go try another sport like MMA or something like that. Urena is nothing but a disgusting coward and his sort of mentality should not be in MLB because he has no idea of what sportsMANship means. Urena is no MAN.
geauxbraves
DOB just tweeted “breathe a sigh of relief: CT scan on Ronald Acuña’s elbow came back normal; he’s listed as day to day.”
socalbum
Marlins want to send the right message to players in its organization, after the suspension option Urena to the minors until September.
allmighty
This is what is sad about the game , nobody here has played so nobody knows what really goes on. His ball moves a ton. He tried to go inside. When a pitcher goes in he rather hit a batter than leave it over the plate. It’s part of the game , but when your on your couches at home it’s very easy to act like you know everything
Golden Boy
the snowflakes in this thread will be crying when urena gets 5 games (max) LOL!
Cat Mando
At least you got half of your screen name right……boy
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Golden Boy is very much like Acuna… A minor player who only gets noticed by being annoying.
kaskro
Yeah being the hottest hitter in baseball is super annoying.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
(laffing) Old guy problems! I completely meant to compare the troll to Urena!
New rule… do not post before the coffee kicks in, Waz!
ThatBallwasBryzzoed
Undisclosed fine which is usually 10-15k. Which always goes to the players charity or their foundation.
Then a 2 start suspension. He’s on the Marlins. That’s already severe punishment.
Cat Mando
Not defending Urena or anyone throwing with intention. I just want to bring up length of suspensions. If a position player who averages 150 games a year is suspended for a fight for 5 games he misses .0333 % of his games. A pitcher who averages 30 starts per year and is suspended 5 games (1 start) he misses .0333% of his games.
socalbum
but they both give up the same % of money on 5 day suspensions
Cat Mando
Yes, they miss the same % of games they would normally play and the same % of pay.
All Baseball No Xabial
Wrong. They get paid even for days they don’t pitch.
Cat Mando
“Wrong. They get paid even for days they don’t pitch.” which is in line with what I said. Players are paid for each day they are on the active roster or DL. A SP gets paid in between starts just like a regular position player being given a day off.
If you have a position player suspended 5 game and a SP they each lose the same # of days pay and each lose approx .0333% of games played as long as the SP is truly missing a start.
stan lee the manly
But this isn’t really true. The pitcher doesn’t miss his start at all, all that does is push his next start back by one day and he can still get his 30 starts for the year. They have to rest the first four days of the suspension normally anyways
MetsYankeesRedSox
I didn’t vote because I didn’t see the proper response to click.
If the usual punishment for a position player in a severe case is 5 days, then a pitcher should miss 5 starts. With the contemporary five man staff, he should miss 25 games, so round it up to 30. Make the team play a player short for the month too.
Dandy
You know, I love that idea. Make the team play a person short for 5 games. Would love to see how many beanballs we get after that.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Ok hitting the pipe early makes a person numb! I went back to poll and voted for the one that feels the way I do.
Fan of MLB since ’65. Constantly evolving game. Most for the good, some for the bad. Over the years MLB has changed rules to keep their most valuable commodity safe. The player. No more Ty Cobb high flying spikes. No more outs registered by throwing at the runner and hitting him. The rules about catcher/runner contact. All rules for the good. Bet Ray Fosse wouldn’t disagree. Sure, some cases may be hard to distinguish between accidental and deliberate. MLB will work it out. It’s a needed change. Not much to gain and too much to lose by continuing with the status quo.
PS. Before you judge me, there are some states that are weed legal. I live in one.
PSS thanks Steve. I had to look up excoriate.
mrnatewalter
This would be a fair punishment if players played for free.
Think of it this way, a position player in a “severe case”, who makes the league minimum, missing five games loses about 15K.
A pitcher, on a “similar” suspension of 25 games, loses around 75K.
That’s not even remotely similar.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Who said anything about playing for free? MLB can levy whatever fine they want.
mrnatewalter
The notion that pitchers should get suspended for longer periods of time than position players for “severe cases” seems to think that these guys aren’t getting fined.
5 games for a position player is 5 games without pay.
25 games for a pitcher is 25 games without pay.
It’s not a similar comparison, by any means.
twentyforty
Where was all this hand wringing 11 years ago? June 9, 2007, Braves Tim Hudson drills Alfonso Soriano with the first pitch of the game a night after Soriano hits 3 HR’s. No ejection….no suspension….no whining….no crying.
I hope the Braves fans recall the incident vividly.
Dandy
I do. It was dumb then. It’s dumb now.
Although those Soriano bat flips were hall of fame worthy. Nobody has ever had that pizzazz.
Also thanks for reminding me about Lance Cormier.
JJB
Hudson was a good ol’ boy though. He loved his mama, Jesus, and America too.
formerlyz
As a Marlins fan, I still cant believe Don Mattingly has a job
lowtalker1
They shouldn’t
lowtalker1
He has always been wild
Houston We Have A Solution
Trade him to the cleveland browns! Let him throw behind that line.
Goose4435
This cowardly act is the equivalent of a pitcher throwing a no hitter and a batter charges the mound because he struck out. Acuna was dominating the Marlins so Urena decided to take matters into his own hands.
What would you be saying if Kershaw got injured by a batter charging the mound during a no hitter.
trident
Fine pitchers more than the position players if they aren’t going to miss the same amount of games.
Dandy
I love the idea another poster had on this. Why not suspend the pitcher 5 games, but not allow the team to fill the roster spot during the suspension. I PROMISE that would be an end to this nonsense.
MetsYankeesRedSox
The retaliation aspect of MLB must be eliminated.
mrnatewalter
I don’t believe they can fill the spot during a suspension. During Hunter Strickland’s suspension last season, if I recall correctly, the Giants had to play with 24 men.
Dandy
You’re right. I just looked that up. Then suspend this guy for 10 games.
stan lee the manly
Never understood the suspend a pitcher for five games deal. That’s not even equivalent to missing a start if the pitcher pitched deep enough into the game before the suspension (obviously that doesn’t apply to Urena, but in general). That would be one extra rest day then back at it as they sit four games anyways. Should be a case-by-case number of days to ensure that the pitcher would miss a full start and rest cycle, so the initial five games and the following four games after to account for the rest cycle. Otherwise, these suspensions are completely meaningless
JJB
The best punishment would be to force Urena to pull a Venditte and pitch with his opposite arm for an entire game… on two hours of sleep… with no catcher… while dressed like the mascot.
Some of you just aren’t being rational.
Rem
The problem I have with incidents like this is that only when it happens to a star (or rising star) does MLB suddenly become concerned and decide to do something/make changes. If it happens to a no-name player, they could care less. It’d be the normal punishment, it’s mentioned in a “it happened” manner and nothing else, move on. It happens to a star/rising star, OMG we need to rewrite the rule books! Institute extreme punishments, etc.
The catcher lane rule came from when the Marlins’ Scott Cousins ran into Buster Posey early in his career and he got hurt. A few weeks earlier, a no-name Marlins catcher (I don’t even remember his name) had the same exact thing happen to him and was out for the year and nobody batted an eye, but suddenly because it’s Buster, we need to literally write a new rule.
I didn’t see the play, so I can’t necessarily comment on the specific issue, but if they want to make changes to punishments, fine, but institute the same level of concern to ALL players, don’t do it just because a star gets hurt/has something happen to them, and THEN be up in arms that something needs to be done.
Dandy
I keep seeing this argument, but if this was a no name player, Urena wouldn’t have hit him. And let’s not act like Acuna has been in the league for 5 years. He has a total of 264 at bats. He got hit because he was crushing the ball, and Urena didn’t have the courage to pitch to him.
Also Urena is a no name player. What gives him the right to go out there and hit someone? A player he hasn’t faced and hasn’t done anything against the “unwritten” rules?
Rem
You missed my point – I wasn’t defending him. The players’ names don’t matter of who hits who, who injures who. My point is simply that It’s only when a star player gets hurt that it matters to anyone, otherwise nobody cares.
A no name guy could have a good series and get hit too.
MetsYankeesRedSox
I agree with what you said & gave you a thumbs up. It’s the unwritten baseball rule that should have been outlawed years ago. It WILL take a star player getting plunked to finally change things.
It should have been done back in Ray Chapman’s time.
MetsYankeesRedSox
Holy moly!
I just looked up Chapman to refresh myself. The game he was hit in occurred exactly 98 years ago today.
ken48tribe
If Urena wanted to send a message, then hit Acuna in the butt. Painful to sit for a day or two but not potentially life threatening or career threatening. Suspension needs to be at least 10 days otherwise just one start for a SP.
As an aside, I appreciate Steve responding to some of the comments since it affords him the opportunity to explain his thinking even more.
Cashford64
If Urena wanted to send him a message…
how about strike him out or something other than hurl a solid object 97mph at his body?
its_happening
Umpire presumed guilt and ejected Urena. Case closed.
However, it’s not closed. Is MLB moving toward automatic suspensions for beanballs? Laugh all you want but this is the direction. The rule was put in place centuries ago to reward the offended team with first base. By giving out a massive suspension re-writes the rule and sets another dangerous precedence for pitchers.
Batters have been allowed to creep closer to the plate in recent memory. Although many of you do not agree, I believe it has played a small role in the breakdown of pitchers and the rise of TJ surgeries and other arm issues with pitchers. Hitters have free will today. They can do anything they want. That’s without question. Again, this is a dangerous precedent.
But, if you want to see longer games, higher scores, higher injury rates for pitchers, a long suspension is the proper decision.
Dandy
Throwing every pitch near 100 mph is a big part of the reason a pitcher’s arm tries to fall off every couple of years.
its_happening
They feel they have no choice thanks to trigger-happy umpires, auto suspensions for HBP causing injury and padded-up hitters crowding the plate. MPHs will gradually decrease along with TJs within a couple years.
ohNole
INTENTIONALLY throwing a fastball at another human being goes beyond baseball – this act is nothing less than Aggravated Assault and he should be suspended until his “speedy trial” is concluded in US Court.
If he’s offering chin music and puts it in someones forehead and kills him – that’s manslaughter. Or if he hits him in the back and fractures his spine – Aggravated Battery. If Tom Brady gets tried by US Justices for deflating footballs – putting someone’s life and livelihood in danger should be held at the same accord.
Grade_1_teacher
If the league does not suspend Jose Urena and continues to allow him to pitch, that will be punishment enough for the Marlins and their fans. Also, good for the opposition. Urena is garbage. Only staff aces are allowed to send a message with a knockdown pitch.
digimike
Lapidation by whiffle balls.
MetsYankeesRedSox
That’s two words I’ve learned today. Thanks!
Paul Heyman
Ban him.
azsportfan
He’s a Marlin, isn’t that Punishment enough?
jleve618
Who cares. You are all crying just because you like to cry. Give him 5 games and lets move on.
dclivejazz
MLB should announce that pitchers will be regularly subject to longer suspensions than 5 games before imposing longer penalties. There’s no reason to single out Urena.
LtJim
Suspend him 5 starts….not games….no pitching out of the pen and misses 5 starts….
c1234
He’s already been suspended a game if you think about it
Phil253
Baseball has lost a lot of its character and feels milktoast. Do you drill him with the first pitch? No. Later in the game? Sure why not. I’d take exception to the way he celebrated his leadoff homer the other day like he’d walked the game off. That’s poor character. I’m not defending Urena here, but honestly I’m tired of the rules of the game we love being doctored to the point of boredom. Can’t run into the catcher cause Posey got hurt, can’t slide into second to break up a double play anymore because one guy broke his leg. Pitchers need helmets cause 1/1,000,000 batted balls hits a pitcher in head. Baseball isn’t football, we don’t have a concussion problem. We have a we’re dumbing down the game problem. The bunt is all, but gone, no one knows how to steal a base anymore, or know how to run the bases. Everyone is shifted on because we’re afraid that singles happen. Sure players gotta adapt, but really come on can we stop watching dumbed down baseball? The other day Jed Lowrie drilled James Paxton with a line drive and put him on the DL of course that wasn’t intentional, but then his next at bat he hit a homer. In the good old days he would have been plunked the next time he came to the plate, but the mariners did nothing… some might say I’m old school or not evolved. I don’t care.
kiddhoff
I’m no fan of the Marlins or Urena. But he did not throw at Acunas elbow. Acunas elbow unfortunately got in the way. I feel this was a call from the dugout. Urena should face a penalty. But I’m afraid this will leave a lasting mark on his career, and it came from the manager. What would you do in that situation? Refuse to be a ‘team player’? Or plunk the guy?
MikePLV10
Michael Young explained it perfectly. I was intentional with no point. You aren’t scaring any of these hitters. They have been hit before and are pitched inside all the time. Clearly a bush league move. Baseball is better than this!
thedean57
I think one of the major problems is the fact that Urena and the Marlins have nothing to play for this year while the Braves are in the thick of a pennant race. That is what makes Urena’s even more blatant. Acuna has been beating up the Marlins, but so has everyone else. If the Marlins wanted to do something about it, do it on the scoreboard. Urena should get max penalty. I’m a Braves fan and I would be saying the same thing if the roles reversed. There is no place for stuff like that in the game.
2012orioles
I like what they said on YES network. It’s fine to send a message, but do it without hitting the guy. Severino vs Betts this year, and syndergaard in the World Series are great examples. I’m fine if they get hit in the thigh, where nothing will break. But you can still send a message without hitting them
Yeti
Apparently, 11% of the people that voted in this poll are Marlins fans.
Psychguy
Why not just try to strike him out?
deweybelongsinthehall
Have him spend his full career with the Marlins..
embehr
Does anyone else think that a five game suspension for a starting pitcher is meaningless and a ten game suspension is only the equivalent to missing one start? If a starter is suspended five games, he doesn’t miss a start. He just has a start pushed back one day, and the team bumps the rotation. Suspend him 14 games, make the Marlins go through their rotation two whole times without him and then let him be added back after a third rotation.
yamsi1912
Send him to the angels, guaranteeing he will have TJ surgery should be punishment enough.
steliokontos
execute him
who is the snowflake that reported my comment?
melt snow
start_wearing_purple
Ok, I’m getting a little sick of the wave this year of claiming certain things are unwritten rules. No Brian Dozier, there is no unwritten rule that says if you’re already beating the hell out a team that your opponent shouldn’t bunt against the shift and try to win the game. No Justin Verlander, there’s no unwritten rule that says a when the pitch count is 3-0 that the guy on first shouldn’t steal. No there’s NO unwritten rule that says you should throw at a guy who’s on a torrid streak.
The idea of “unwritten rules” in baseball is little more than a code of conduct, NOTHING MORE. Basically if a player from team A does something like throw at a guy’s head, injures a player, slides into second with the spikes up, etc, then the pitcher from team B throws at an opposing player to make sure everyone knows that bad behavior will be paid back in full.
So if ANYONE is claiming that the baseball traditionalist way of thinking agrees with Urena throwing at a player who’s one fire, they’re full of bs. This was vindication for the sake of vindication.
tuna411
MORE punishment? Is this a joke? The guy should not have been thrown out of the game.
TrueOutcomeFan
He should have he was and he should be suspended for a while.
jd396
They should just let players charge the mound with their bat and take a couple good hacks at them.
Seriously though… If players want this to stop, do what people do with injuries that were once considered “it’s just a part of the job”… sue the offender and the system that enabled the offender to function. Nobody aside from professional boxers can say getting deliberately injured is part is their job. Go punch a nurse and see what happens to you now.
tealmarlin
A hit by pitch and people are talking about 10 games suspension???? what the league has turned to?
easykaya
I want him to get the suspensions after his next start againt the Braves in 7-10 days.
I want him to atleast get a fastball to the Temple before he gets suspended!!
dswaim
Pitchers have to be able to move guys off the plate. Harsher punishment for hit batsmen will result in 20-18 scores. The uproar over this is silly. It sucks for Scuba but obviously he was crowding the plate so much he had no chance to get out of the way. If guys are going setup that close to the plate in the batter’s box, they’re gonna get plunked from time to time
its_happening
Agreed. The punishment is the batter is awarded first base. The end.
ldfanatic
He should be suspended the rest of the season as well as anyone who had influence over him doing it.
kiddhoff
Everything bad that you guys are saying about Urena shouldn’t be hypocritical. I wonder what you think about Pedro Martinez, who was a head hunter prior to being the lovable ‘analyst’ on the MLB network
Chipperjoneshof
Dude Mattingly has a consecutive home run game streak. He wouldn’t call for Acunas head cause he afraid he pass his record?? God I hope not. That’s Puuzz
Dan_Oz
Don’t suspend him, but make him wear a uniform that says “coward” instead of his name on the back for the rest of the season.
Birch
Urena is known to be out of control with his pitches. Noah Syndergaard brushes and knocks down Alcides Escobar with 99 at the same elevation in the World Series. About 75-85% of baseball fans have no issue with it. Why the double standard? I don’t like that he hit him in the elbow, if his intention is to hit him at all. If he’s trying to push him off the plate, he rears back and fires his typical garbage fastball with zero control and hangs on a hair too long and hits the guy, why is there a difference? As someone else pointed out, Urena hits people seemingly at least once per game.
TrueOutcomeFan
25 game suspension missing 5 starts should be the minimum. If the result of players policing the game is pitchers throwing 95+ mph at a batter, maybe it’s time to stop letting the players do the policing. Also time for the managers to start taking some responsibility for this. The alpha male, tough guy culture in sports done been old.
greg1
I don’t have an issue with Urena hitting him, I just don’t like the way he went about it.
I got a chance to pitch at a high level, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I hit a couple of guys intentionally. That said, you always aim for the butt, and while it’s a fastball you hit him with, you take a couple of miles off of it. What Urena did is dirty pool, I don’t like that at all.
I know I’m going to take some heat back for this, but I am a baseball dinosaur (won’t use purist), and I still believe that if/when done properly, the intentional hitting of a batter if part of the game.
echozulu88
He should have to stand in the box and simulate a batter during all of the braves pitchers bullpen sessions for the next week.
Bruin1012
It seems there is a lot of angry people about this but the reality is you can’t suspend a pitcher for 5 starts unless you can suspend batters for 25 starts for charging the mound.
It sure does appear that he threw at Acuna intentionally but there is no way to prove it. Since you can’t prove it the most he should get is one start suspension. If it is deemed that he absolutely threw at Acuna then a 2 start suspension would be in order you just can’t go over that. My guess is if they do give the kid a two start suspension the players association will absolutely appeal that.
I’m not saying Acuna does this but there are plenty of players that dive over the plate and pitchers have to pitch inside to keep them honest. Hitters are going to get hit that’s just the nature of the game people need to remember that.
Jon429
Sad thing is you are probably right about the suspension and I’m sure he’ll appeal it down to one or none at all.
The other side of this is if pitchers are going to pull this crap and face no punishment from MLB then retaliation will happen. Not this year and not while Atlanta is in a division race, but I hope Marlin’s players wear some good body armor come next spring when facing the Braves.
Dandy
One, MLB doesn’t have to prove anything. They can just suspend him. The Union can appeal, yada yada.
Two, if he is suspended only 5 games, the Braves will retaliate. As long as the Marlins think they do it within the “unwritten” rules, the Marlins don’t retaliate. If the Marlins feel like the Braves retaliation is outside the “unwritten” rules, they’ll retaliate. Leading to another Braves retaliation, so on and so on.
Beanball is stupid.
Bruin1012
Unless the guy comes out and says damn right I threw at him it is speculation. There is no way to prove that he threw at him. If he gets a five start suspension then you open Pandora’s box.
UGA_Steve
Charging the mound is far more rare than you think judging by your comments. I guarantee you batters would be even less likely to charge the mound if they thought the league and the players association were taking adequate steps to curb this problem. You must do something to curb this as the possibility for a batter’s career to be altered, and his ability to make money is heavily impacted. Some guys are never the same and they have zero protection. Don’t use the ‘its always been that way’ as a reason to not correct something that is just wrong. Why pave roads? Houses are stupid when there is a perfectly good cave. Heck, people riding airplanes were actually strapped to the wings. It’s not game altering, but curbing this is in the best interest of the game.
This is also not about keeping someone honest. This is about beaning people. Kershaw and Scherzer keep people honest with a fastball at the hands. Most pitchers do and occasionally you might see a Freeman or Judge type injury if the ball comes a bit too far inside. This, was a flat out beaning by a sub-par pitcher with a history of hitting people in retaliation for even little slights.
Bruin1012
I’m not really sure who your favorite team is Steve but let’s just say that your favorite team is the Braves and after Rhys Hopkins hits a couple of home runs off of Folty the next time he comes up he gets a 98 in the back. Folty says the fastball just slipped didn’t mean to hit him. Philadelphia disagrees and Rhys is out for a week. Suspension comes down on Folty of 5 starts effectively ending his season. How would you feel about that? He said he didn’t do it on purpose you are opening Pandora’s box if you suspend a pitcher for five starts sorry that is just a fact. Unless someone comes out and says they absolutely threw at him you then you can’t prove anything.
As for more players getting hit then ever yes it’s because of all the body armor and the fact that there are players, Rizzo comes to mind, who hang out over the plate. If there were automated strike zones some of these guys would get called for strike instead of hit by pitch. The number of guys who crowd the plate and dive into pitches is the reason for more hit batters because they are not afraid of it.
UGA_Steve
Couple of things.on this old school baseball thing:
First, the stats do not add up. It only takes a little bit of research. HBP’s are higher now than they ever have been. The trend is not going down as one or two suggested. Yes, there are anomalies like Ron Hunt getting hit 50 times in a year, but it has been going up wildly in the last half century. Up through 1950, the seasonal average was almost always under 0.20 hbp’s per game. That’s five games per one HBP. From 1950 through 1990 it trended up slightly, but it has been in the high .35-.38 range the last decade. In other words, this nonsense is happening almost TWICE as often now as it did then.
Granted, with all the armor and protection players are wearing they crowd the plate a little, the number has gone up. Likewise some of the ridiculous batter celebrations and taunting, but a large portion of this is just childish temper tantrums by pitchers re-acting to players hitting them hard. Ventura, Strickland, and Urena are classless examples. Urena even took it a step further and pulled out the nonsense on a guy who hadn’t even hit him hard yet. Quite frankly, most ‘old school’ pitchers understood they just got beat and did not retaliate. Only a few did and they had reputations that caused everyone to ‘think’ that was how you did it. Sorry, but it just isn’t reality.
baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/pitch.shtml
Second, this is happening more often than not now because pitchers think it’s acceptable. The argument that you flipped a bat or celebrated too much is ridiculous and cowardly. Pitchers celebrate, pump fists, scream, etc, and batters have to tolerate it. They don’t get to charge the mound every ..40 games to take a free swing at a pitcher for making them look bad in a previous at bat. No, it just doesn’t happen. We are talking about possibly ending someone’s career or life, negating money for their families for possibly generations, not something minimal. The risk is there. Calling this a dangerous sport is a cop out.
Next, this 5 days/1 start thing is ridiculous when some of these batters miss weeks if not months, and it affects the entire team. MLB must toughen the penalties.
Last. The MLBPA needs to stop acting like pathetic, spineless cowards towards their own. Same as with steroids. Police yourself. Toughen the stance through a CBA agreement that suspensions come with hefty fines that CANNOT be paid by owners or teammates. Then, no one can say, do it for us and we got your back. Get this out of the game by hitting them in the pocketbook. And, if you are afraid of the ‘intent’ thing, then get a committee to review, but make it non-players so their is no pressure. Anyone who has played baseball beyond age 14 or so knows what this is about. Someone afraid to be called out by his flock will not be useful here. Heck, even fans are more level-headed here.
rschutzpah
So what happens if the punishment becomes 10 days and a pitcher hits a batter playoffs? So um… is he basically done for the year than? I mean who decides intent here? There have been many situations where people would say there was intent. Just to get an ace off the staff for the rest of the game and series might be nice to have too if your trying to win it all. Then why stop there? Urena has now hit 11 guys this year. Seems like he might have control issues? Or maybe he is not the only guy hitting batters out there? How about these guys they get suspended too? Scherzer has hit 8 batters. DeGroom is only at 5. Sale has plunked 11 batters.too. Bauer has hit 9. Verlander has hit 7. Cole has hit 6. 10 day suspension for each time? Who decides which one had intent…
kaskro
Golden Boy is a snowflake
Syndergaarden Cop
Can we just ban trash troll golden garbage boy already?!
kaskro
Lol yeah I wish urena would have threw a 97 mph heater at him instead
Tiger_diesel92
It’s baseball it happens. It’s either your hot at the plate or you crowd the plate either way how you look at it, the first pitch of the game is so over reacting about this dumb stuff.
Ken In Sac
Require him to make all of his starts in his home ballpark (2000 fans per night) in 2019
troll
5 games for a starting pitcher is one turn of a rotation. how about 25 games?
baseballhobo
Since his uniform number is 62, he should get a 62 game suspension.
Phil253
He shouldn’t have been ejected in the first place. You can’t automatically call his intent to hit him. I don’t think the umpires were going to toss him, but allowed the Braves to influence that decision. The team also should have stayed in the dugout. If MLB wanted to impose a fine or suspension after the fact then so be it. Diaz from the m’s let one sail at someone’s head in the ASG, but that’s just down to being overly amped up. There’s too many comments to read (I already posted one, no one cared) so if this is redundant then I’m sorry. Mattingly hung his player out to dry and threw him under the bus. You don’t tell the media that he knows he intended to hit him. You say that he was amped up and that he missed while trying pitch inside and that he didn’t intend to hit him. Also I’m going to say that when your tit for tat plunking a guy you don’t throw your best fastball at them, the idea isn’t to injure someone and it never has been. Urena May have missed that memo. Everyone calling for his head and a 10+ game suspension need to get over themselves, learn the history of the game, and stop being so damn whimpy. And Mattingly shouldn’t abandon his player so readily, and that is bush league.
its_happening
We can also make a case for Urena, who’s a thrower and not a pitcher, tried to go inside and missed. Unless we stick a lie detector test on him we can’t show evidence that he was trying to pop the hitter on that pitch.
This is a much bigger story than it has to be. No suspension. He was already punished with an ejection. Let’s stop taking the Jeff Pussan direction (purpose misspell) with this game of baseball. Hitters need to protect themselves at all times.
justreading
you can not prove intent only assume it
stansfield123
This is ridiculous. There have been many instances where intent was far, far more likely than in this case. In fact, there have been instances where the pitcher never even denied hitting a batter. When A-Rod got hit after his PED suspension, the Boston pitcher who did it boasted about it openly.
So what makes this worse than that? A-Rod deserved it? Is that what you’re saying? That sometimes a hitter deserves to have his health and possibly his life placed in danger, and other times he doesn’t? That it all depends on whether he did something to deserve it or not, and since Acuna did nothing to deserve getting hit, the punishment should be different?
It’s absurd. In fact, the pitcher shouldn’t even have been tossed, because, normally, you don’t get tossed for the first hit by pitch of a series. At least, not until the rules are changed, to punish EVERYBODY more severely, no matter what their reason for drilling a batter.
xabial
The clown who hit AROD cuz he was pissed Alex used the system to appeal NOT get suspended for biogenesis (at time)
Didn’t even miss a ****ing start. I could see why Alex might be hated “deserve” to get hit more than Acuna who is becoming the face of Braves did nothing wrong but hit 5 homers 5 straight facing, I think is worst MLB SP w/ HBP
But 5 games for Ryan Dempster was still a joke, just like 6 games is for Urena. Let’s re-live the Alex moment:
youtube.com/watch?v=FfV1gznyCUQ
Dempster deserved to miss more than 5 games, at least ONE start for more intentional HBP than Acuna’s.. Arod’s HBP was most intentional I’ve seen, probably history of the game
Sid Bream
A suspension issued should be one that makes or attempts to make the player realise he did the WRONG thing. What he did was not sportsMANship, it was an act of a coward. Oh look, Acuna has hit 3 home runs, I better take him out. Only a suspension that makes Urena realise that it is not in the spirit of sport to do such a thing will the suspension be of any use. He wanted to hurt someone, so he should be hurt in his pocket and deprived from pitching for at least 5 starts. What a disgusting person and poor excuse for a human.
Urena is like the guy in the round ball game called football that breaks someone’s leg or tries to intentionally hurt another player by going in studs up after the opposition player has scored a goal-it sickens me and it’s just poor.
marlinsrising16
Give it a rest people. He purposely hit Acuna. Who gives a f/)@;@$):! He is not the first one to be drilled on purposes. Just because you have social media at our finger tips, doesn’t mean you have to make jackass comments about players you wish you were. A lot of haters talking shame on him, are the same people who want shorter baseball games, robot umpires, DH in both leagues. Grow up peters pans, this is baseball, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it……mic drop!