Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez and manager Davey Martinez have received suspensions after a Lopez fastball to Andrew McCutchen sailed high-and-tight, nearly hitting McCutchen in the head. Lopez has received a three-game suspension, which he will appeal. Martinez was suspended for one game and will serve that punishment today. (Managers cannot appeal suspensions of this nature.) Bench coach Miguel Cairo will manage in his place.
The errant pitch to McCutchen eventually prompted both benches to clear. Tensions had already been high. Mitch Keller had hit Nats infielder Paul DeJong in the face a day prior, breaking his nose and sending him to the injured list. Lopez had first hit Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds with a pitch before losing the handle on another offering to McCutchen, the very next batter. Lopez was ejected from the game.
The league’s announcement indicates they believe Lopez to have been “intentionally throwing” at McCutchen. Lopez has denied that, and even McCutchen himself suggested after the game that he didn’t believe there was intent behind the pitch.
“It’s just the nature of the situation,” McCutchen replied when asked postgame about the incident (video link via MLB.com). “Take it as is, even if it wasn’t on purpose, which I don’t think it was. I think the height of the moment just got to him, maybe. One got away from him, similar to [Keller]. … Just thankful I was able to move out of the way.”
Command troubles aren’t exactly new for Lopez. He’s walked 10.5% of his opponents this season, hit another pair of batters, and has been charged with a wild pitch. That all comes in just 7 2/3 innings of work. Dating back to 2021, Lopez has pitched 312 1/3 big league innings and walked nearly 10% of the batters he’s faced. He’s also hit another 29 batters — 2.1% of his opponents, well north of league-average — and been charged with 22 wild pitches.
Signed to a one-year, $3MM contract over the winter, Lopez got out to a nice start with the Nats before stumbling in his past two outings. Through his first six frames, he held opponents to a pair of runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He’s since been tagged for seven runs in a total of just 1 2/3 innings, ballooning his earned run average to 10.57 on the young season.
Lopez logged a 2.89 ERA, 23% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 51% grounder rate in 53 innings between the Mets and Cubs last season. He collected 10 holds and four saves along the way. In 183 innings from 2022-24, he recorded a 3.74 earned run average with 30 saves and 21 holds.
So much misplaced bravado and machismo by these grown men. What’s so glamorous about injuring others?
McCutchen said he doesn’t believe it was intentional.
Lopez has a history of control issues.
Maybe this comment is misplaced
I would assume from a strictly respect perspective that Cutch wouldn’t be a target, he’s a veteran and well liked.
@Dusty Clutch has been thrown at a lot over his career. Likely due to retaliation and not him as a person. Clutch would take it as it is most of the time.
I don’t know what the case is here but given the pitcher, it is very plausible it was not intentional.
This was my first thought, too. McCutcheon is one of the truly good guys in the league. I’m just glad he wasn’t hurt.
You typically go after a teams best players, which he was earlier in his career. Not anymore.
In general, players don’t go after veterans, it’s not how it’s done. He hit Reynolds, that was the target
last year when Lopez pitched for the Cubs, Reynolds hit a 3 run homer and 2 batters later, Cutch hit a solo homer off of Lopez
You think he didn’t remember?
That’s the nature of the game. If he holds animosity because of that one issue, he needs to retire. Kind of like the person with the original post here, these guys are getting paid millions and this ass clown is worried about players being macho? If you had millions riding on every pitch, you would be macho instead of a limp wristed crybaby. That’s why they make millions every year and whiners never make it out of their parents basement. Simply put, that’s life buttercup!
“So much misplaced…injuring others”…When you get down off your soap box, you may notice that no one was “injured”. If you’re going to play mind reader and lib accusations, at least get your “facts” straight.
* “Lob accusations”.
Paul DeJong’s nose will never look the same.
lol this is such a soft comment. Someone badly injures your teammate or better yet, your friend, and you don’t want to do anything about it on the field? Soft.
Fragile ego is what fragile ego does.
Bob Gibson says hi
Jorge sure seems like a good guy.
It sounds like Keller didn’t do it on purpose. But DeJong still has a broken nose and it’s Kellers fault. I think if the league punished Keller it would make him think twice about throwing up and in next time.
Absolutely baffling comment. You acknowledge that it doesn’t sound like Keller did it on his purpose but then again you say the mlb should punish him so he would think twice about throwing the up and in.
This would be like me saying dejong should stand further from the plate next time eony doesn’t get hit.
Pitchers have to pitch and hitters have to hit.
I will say it’s silly that there was suspensions to the nationals
Throwing up and in is on purpose.
Hitting the guy is not.
If you throw up and in you need to be careful you don’t break a guys nose. If you arent careful you should be punished. And if you are punished you will be more careful next time.
You just said Keller didn’t do it on purpose, so why would he be punished? And quite honestly, it’s technically DeJong’s fault for not moving out of the way in time… since you’re pointing fingers and such.
In hockey players get punished for drawing blood even if the guy who did it didn’t intend to do it.
In our legal system people get punished for making unintentional mistakes all the time.
Intent matters but it’s not the only factor.
DeJong paid the price by having a broken nose. Keller paid no price for his actions, intentional or not.
I don’t understand at all why we’re comparing the legal system of the United States to how MLB deals infractions. A more closer example is how other pro sport leagues deal with issues like this. In hockey’s case, players get put into the penalty box or ejected, maybe fined or suspended if the fight was really bad or if there was a clear intent to injure someone, correct?
Dude, stick to cards.
@ kingofcards You don’t understand baseball sufficiently to make a comment that doesn’t make you look very foolish!!
In hockey players get punished for drawing blood regardless of intent.
So……you were saying???
I mean yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying, but there’s also nuance to it. The automatic punishment in hockey isn’t suspension. Guys are put in the penalty box too. There’s no ‘penalty box’ in baseball, but there are other ways other than straight suspension as punishment.
Do you think Lopez should have been suspended?
No, nobody should be suspended in this case. Imo, the only cases when someone should be suspended is if it was very clearly intentional. I don’t believe Lopez showed intention, just lost his command. The game was 2-0 Pirates at the time with 2 runners already on. Why would Lopez hit someone to start with, let alone hit someone to load the bases in a relatively close game? The only real connection between Lopez and Cutch was the homer he hit off of him last year, but even he believes it wasn’t intentional, even after the scuffle.
If you are going to handout any punishment, maybe a fine to Cutch and Lopez for being the catalysts in the scuffle.
Cards – That’s bullcrap!
A hockey player who loses his balance and has his skate cut an opponent is NEVER penalized, fella.
A hockey player who raises his stick(high sticking) and draws blood is always penalized.
Cards – That is incorrect.
NHL Rulebook:
“A “high stick” is one which is carried above the height of the opponent’s shoulders. A player is permitted accidental contact on an opponent if the act is committed as a normal wind up or follow through of a shooting motion, or accidental contact on the opposing center who is bent over during the course of a face-off.”
Also, not all high-sticking penalties result in suspension. According to Wikipedia, all high-sticking infractions in the 2024-2025 season were met with fines, no suspensions. The last suspension for high sticking was in March 2024. The 2022-2023 season was the last time there were multiple game suspensions for high-sticking.
Imo, if a clearly unintentional HBP ends in injury, then a fine is okay.
1225 absolutely agree and the comparison is all the more misplaced because the legal system absolutely does consider intent and premeditation when it comes to charging and sentencing.
That’s a tangential point though. Playing baseball carries an inherent risk of accidental injury both of this type and others. Yes it’s deeply unfortunate that Dejong was injured and I hope he gets better soon but the game can’t reasonably function if players are going to be punitively dealt with for routine on field actions that innately involve a non zero posssibility of risk for accidental injury regardless of context and intent. The risks are known to all parties involved and these are grown adults who are consensually accepting those risks to participate.
Yeah you can make accidental contact. But LIKE I SAID if you draw blood it’s a penalty.
Pete
Lopez was suspended and he didn’t hit anyone at all. So how is that fair?
Players have a duty of care to not put another players health at risk unnecessarily.
A penalty box in baseball. That would be interesting. Managers could strategize around getting a player penalized only to have them come back later. But they would have to play with a man down for the duration of the penalty. What if it was the pitcher or catcher? Someone on the field would have to shift to that critical position and fill a role that they may not be able to play effectively and leave another position in the infield or outfield open. Nah! Wouldn’t work, but certainly made me wonder!😎
In the legal system lawyers promote victimhood and that is a big problem.
He hit Reynolds.
Agree. And the umps and the league in Baseball and the judges in the tort system are the arbiters who have to make thoughtful and reasoned judgements on these respective matters.
True perhaps, but it wasn’t really even a scuffle. There was a bunch of standing around and Pham being restrained by his own teammate. The players themselves kept it mostly under control and the umps tossed Lopez appropriately for his lack of pitch control. This didn’t seem to rise to the level of any fines or suspensions for anyone. I think you have been saying that all along anyway.
Yeah confusing. Maybe getting hit in the face will teach Paul to back off the plate some. Yeah it sounds silly but so is punishing Keller for a single ball that got away up and in.
If it was bad enough to punish for accidents he probably wouldn’t be pitching
Lopez got punished and he didn’t even hit anyone. Does that seem fair to you?
So what if Keller misses a start? So what?
IIRC: Lopez got a hit someone ‘just’ before and then appeared to throw at another intentionally. note appeared, doesn’t mean did.
You cannot say the same for Keller.
I duno if Lopez should get punished but with what people say about Lopez’s control, maybe he shouldn’t be in the MLB at all.
The Reynolds HBP was 100% not intentional (who Lopez hit before Cutch), it just nicked his elbow.
Ok Cards, I’ll play. How many games should Keller be suspended?
He should miss 1 start. However many that is.
5 game suspension… for no intent? And he wouldn’t miss a start, he’d just throw one day late. Makes no sense.
Who are you to decide who intended to do what?
Oh hi Joel. You said so yourself at the beginning of this thread. I’m not the arbiter in Keller’s appeal, but you’d be darned sure he’d win and get reduced to no games, or one maybe. Rest day. He still pitches on schedule. Doesn’t make sense, but makes more sense in that it’s coming from you.
Lopez hit Bryan Reynolds
BITA, how many accounts do you have? How many have been banned? How long until you’re new account gets banned.
O/U set at 2 weeks. I’m going Under!
I was at the game when Keller hit DeJong. It was 100% unintentional. He was clearly shaken up by it himself. It was also a pretty poor night, weather wise. Was low-40s with on-and-off rain, so that may have contributed to him losing it on that one pitch. I hope DeJong heals fast though.
He still hit DeJong in the face. And that’s what caused the rest of this nonsense. Like I said if Keller is punished I bet he thinks twice next time about throwing up and in.
I don’t think Keller should be punished. Punishment should be dealt out based on intent. Injuries related to HBPs have been an inherent risk throughout all of baseball history that all parties asume. I don’t think MLB sitting Keller out for his next start is going to stop him from throwing up and in if there’s a batter who struggles with up and in pitches. I also doubt Jorge Lopez, or any pitcher for that matter, would stop throwing up/in just because one got away from them. I still feel bad for DeJong, but that’s just how it is.
If a drunk driver causes a car accident they are punished. And they didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
If you want to throw up and in fine. But do it at your own risk as well as the batters. If you try and fail you should be punished.
Perhaps you being a Pirates fan is clouding your thoughts.
lol drunk driver vs sober pitcher.
How about a driver that is speeding and hurts another person. Do you like that analogy better?
My point is intent is not the only thing that matters. The results matter and Keller broke DeJongs nose.
What about when a baseball player hits a ball and it hits the pitcher?
You’re comparing two very different situations. If someone is a drunk driver, you’re endangering not just your life, but the lives of all other drives and pedestrians around you, as well as property damage. On top of that, there’s a vast difference between operating a motor vehicle under the influence that weighs upwards of 3000+ pounds to losing control of a baseball. If you decide to operate a car while under the influence, you are driving with the intent to cause harm because you know the law and the consequences if you drive while under the influence.
The more accurate comparrison is if you were in a fender bender, not under the influence, making a mistake on the road or something happening to your car to make it lose control, and causing minor injuries or damage, but sent to prison for multiple years.
If Lopez’s was unintentional, then he shouldn’t be suspended. If Keller recated in a different way and showed no remorse during the incident or after the game, I’d be dissapointed in him and would also say he should be suspended.
You just going to ignore what I said?
Ok well I can do that too Dig…..
Nobody suggested Keller get sent to prison for multiple years just punished in some way. There is a gigantic difference between being suspended for 5 games(1 start) and going to prison.
You think Kellers suspension should be determined by remorse? Lol.
These are all bad examples, comparing hitting someone/something with a car vs hitting someone with a pitch. Yes, showing actual remorse is an inditcator as to whether or not the HBP was intentional or not. I’d say that for any pitcher, not just Keller.
Showing remorse doesn’t absolve you of guilt.
How does Keller missing 1 start change anything for him or the Pirates? It costs him some money he has plenty. The season is long it’s 1 start. Heck missing a game will help keep him fresh for the playoffs haha.
Your logic is not sound. You are saying if you choose to pitch inside, and hit someone, you should get suspended. So now no one pitches inside, much easier to hit.
What about if just miss your spot, or slip and you meant to throw outside but hit the guy? Suspension!
If you TRY to hit someone, yes, suspension. If you accidently hit someone while do your job in which you are supoosed to pitch it a few inches away from hitting someone, clearly not.
if pigs could fly, they’d fly away from butchers
what about everything you suggest?
SMH
I believe drunk drivers are dealt with much less harshly than sober drivers.
I am saying if you choose to pitch inside AND you hit someone AND you injure them you get suspended.
There is zero chance that Keller will be suspended.
Cards…you need to stop man. Each analogy makes your point even worse. Comparing illegal activities in a vehicle to a non-illegal activity in a game is asinine.
Good one
there is an inherent risk in playing baseball at that level which you just have to be ok with, it won’t go away. there is no reason to punish someone for something they didn’t mean to do when that’s just a risk you accept by playing baseball
“He still hit Dejong”…I’d propose a points system, similar to what the NBA does for technical fouls.
If the ump agrees that a pitch was “dangerous” or “unsportsmanlike” then that pitcher is given a “point”, irrespective of “intent”.
After reaching a certain level of points, that particular pitcher would be suspended a predetermined number of games and docked pay accordingly.
Under this system mind reading, or determining intent, is unnecessary and irrelevant since the umpire makes a unilateral decision on whether a pitch was “bad for the game”.
I don’t know if you need to do a points system type thing. Just suspend him for a start. Baseball is a long season missing 1 stsrt isn’t going to matter that much in the end but it sends a message to other pitchers to be more careful.
….Or else they get suspended one start which “isn’t going to matter that much in the end”? I’m sure they’re trembling with fear.
These are grown men. The hitter crowds the plate to reduce the area he needs to cover with his swing. The pitcher pitches inside to reclaim that space.
Sometimes that results in getting hit. Other times it results in a pitcher trying to paint outside and missing. And if the pitcher doesn’t have good control, bad things can happen.
Basic baseball. Don’t make it more than it is.
If Keller was going to get suspended and the other team knew it there would have been no retaliation.
I am reading through this string intently and this comment suggests that there was retaliatory intent by Lopez. Why not retaliate with the first batter faced? Why hit Reynolds “in retaliation” and follow it with a second retaliation at Cutch? Doesn’t make much sense. None of us will truly know whether this was a lack of control/pitch getting away by Keller and Lopez; only they know that. The rest of us and the umpires are left to guess and the umpires had to get things under control to avoid an injury. Keller probably had one get away; no reason to suspend him. Lopez was wild and given the game situation wasn’t likely throwing in retaliation and shouldn’t have been suspended either in my opinion. But again, only Keller, Lopez, and their confidants know the real answer.
Batters already wear armor and crowd the plate. But sure, make it harder for pitchers to pitch inside.
Welcome home Joel. We’ve missed you.
It was 100% intentional. Stop being biased and open your eyes.
I’ve never understood pitchers throwing at a batter because the batter previously hit a home run off of them. Pitcher’s job is to get the batter out and prevent runs. Batter’s job is not to get out and help produce runs. If a batter hits a home run, the fault lies with the pitcher for not doing their job. Maybe the pitcher should then throw at themselves. Imagine if batters threw their bats at a pitcher every time they struck out.
That’s not what happened here.
Boys will be boys (to plagiarize some old and recent users of this phrase). It’s a competitive game and intimidation is part of it.
If you watched this in real-time it was *clearly* unintentional. This was a case of the umpires getting together and deciding something had to be done, but accomplishing little other than making a big scene.
Lopez mad matters worse by barking at Cutch. I think he would have been fine otherwise, but he forced the league’s hand in the end.
“Pair of plunks”?
He didn’t actually hit McCutchen, so just one official plunk described in the article.
He’s hit two batters this season. I wrote “that pair” instead of “a pair” by mistake. Thanks for pointing that out. I cleaned it up.
Three games for an up and in pitch that did not even hit him. Nolan Ryan would have spent half his career on the suspended list if he pitched today.
Why the calls for additional forms of punishment when MLB already has a system in place to punish pitchers—-ejection, fines——for those deemed guilty of intentionally hitting a batter? The best of them often struggle w/their command and control of the d…n ball. More difficult for them in cold, damp, wet weather and the humidity of summer. Just give them back their “sticky stuff” so they can at least grip the baseball w/confidence.
Pitchers are already punished when they miss the target by throwing the ball too fat in the strike zone. Now they have to be punished when they miss the target that is set inside? How about when they miss the target anywhere else? Oh yeah, they’re punished by wild pitches and passed balls.
Now batters get to use torpedo bats? Do the pitchers get to modify the baseballs? Raise the seams a little bit? Oh, they can toss a ball out. Wow, that helps a lot.
Maybe batters should just get handed a bat and that’s what they have to use. Somehow they get to customize the bat but no such allowance is made for the ball.
Baseball has a long history of doing nothing to help pitchers while doing lots to help batters. You know, because the fans want runs.
Gosh, I wonder why so many TJ surgeries?
Keller broke DeJongs nose.
I think you are missing my point. If baseballs were more to the liking of pitchers because they could control them better, maybe we wouldn’t have these situations. Baseball does absolutely nothing in favor of the pitchers ever, every move is to benefit the batters. So the pitchers blow their arms out trying to compete and then we want to suspend them regardless of intent because a pitch got away?
That is a really great perspective on this issue. Baseball is a business and I suppose they prioritize hits, runs, action over the more boring pitchers’ duels. The masses like home runs; the minority of the fans cherish those pitching and defensively strategic games which take more effort to appreciate. And it’s easier to bias hitting where you can add up home runs, overall hits, BA, OPS to attract and entertain fans than it is to bias pitching where you MIGHT get more no-hitters and perfect games which are mostly only appreciated in the 9th inning after fans endure the boredom of out after out after out. Baseball psychology.
Just look at what happened here with open eyes.
Keller hit DeJong and broke DeJongs nose.
Lopez threw a ball up and in to Mcutchen and it didn’t hit him.
Lopez gets suspended not Keller.
Does that truly seem fair to anyone here? How the heck is Lopez suspended but not Keller?
Imho, this is an overreaction by MLB….again – it’s trying to give the appearance of legitimacy to a situation the umps cannot legislate. I think this does more to detract from the game than it does help any future scenario.
Lopez had hit Reynolds one batter before nearly beaning McCutchen. The plate umpire (Ron Kulpa) should’ve immediately run Lopez without a warning. Instead it festered and both benches emptied. Not an overreaction to suspend pitcher and manager, though not a good look on the part of the umpires.
BTW the Buccos won the getaway game at noontime.
If a few pitches would “ get away” from pitchers facing the Dodgers maybe they wouldn’t be so comfortable at the plate. And then the suspension can be deferred for several years.
Funny!
I am thinking the players got this one right and the league overreacted. But I do agree with the umps ejection, Lopez was wild and it was up to them at that point to get him off the mound to avoid a serious injury; I’m not sure they could have turned to the manager to give him the option to pull him with the benches already cleared. I’m kinda curious what Santana and the umps were talking about during the dust up. Anyone else?