Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: no justice from MLB
Voices from all over were calling for a lengthy suspension of Jose Urena. It didn’t happen.
I am going to be very interested in how Jose Urena and the Marlins treat the suspension handed out Thursday for his actions against Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr.
First though: the suspension itself. According to multiple sources, Major League Baseball announced that the suspension is for 6 games, scheduled to begin on Friday, August 16. An undisclosed fine was also included in the penalty.
Braves’ 1st base coach Eric Young Sr. was also suspended for a single game with cash considerations appended.
If you’ve read anything of this writer’s view in the past couple of days, you’ll recognize that I’m not particularly happy with this verdict. This is a pitcher with a history of going after some hitters and the circumstances of this incident appeared to be particularly egregious, thus at least 2 full starts missed would appear to be much more appropriate.
Frankly, I’d have to believe now that the Braves themselves have now been put into the awkward position of having to impose their own penalty.
They might get the chance, too.
The Braves visit with Miami again in just 6 more days: a 4-game set running through Sunday, August 29. Before this fiasco began, Urena was not slated to face Atlanta during the series, according to the scheduling projections on ESPN.com.
However, this would change should Urena opt to begin his penalty immediately as scheduled.
MLB Trade Rumors also picked up on this bit of intrigue:
"There is a bit of an intriguing quirk in the Miami schedule that is worth noting: if Urena does not appeal, he’ll first be eligible to return against the Braves. This being the National League, he’d also have to step up to the plate. While karmic thinking is tempting, though, that tends to further perpetuate the intentional plunking approach to self-policing supposed transgressions against the game of baseball."
Don’t think that the Braves won’t be looking to circle a date on the calendar, either:
Open to interpretation? Ha… yes, that’s exactly how they would have to phrase it.
In this case, ‘Down the road’ means the path from I-75 south to the Florida Turnpike and then on to I-95 and the Dolphin Expressway.
We’ll be watching. The Marlins would probably just as soon has this behind them. Urena might prefer to postpone the inevitable, and an appeal would do that.
We’ll have to see what he opts to do, but we’ll know by this morning. The Braves may have to arrange their rotation, if you know what I mean (but of course that’s open to interpretation).
Meanwhile, Urena might wanna practice evasive movements.
UPDATE: Urena is said to be appealing the verdict against him (source: MLB Network Radio, Steve Phillips)
Acuña’s okay?!
I admit being shocked that Acuña not only passed his CT scan (results came back this morning), but was also in the lineup this evening… singling in his first AB.
The best case scenario you might have expected would have been a day or two or rest for the swelling to fully subside.
But when the lineups came out… Acuña name was on top. That didn’t turn out to be ‘day-to-day’, but just “half-a-day”. Fascinating.
One that got away
Oddly, it was Dansby Swanson‘s bat that got the Braves back in the game and his glove that let the Rockies up off the deck, spoiling a nice outing by Julio Teheran.
Colorado was down 3-2 entering the 9th, but a Swanson error lead to 3 unearned runs as Brad Brach was unable to stem the resulting tide.
In other action, the Nationals took out the Cardinals 5-4 (and honestly, given the Cardinals’ torrid streak, I’m okay with that) while the Phillies split a double-header with the Mets: 4-24 and 9-6.
Yes, you read that right: the Mets won 24-4 in the first game. They actually scored nearly twice as often as the Jets did in their pre-season contest vs. the Redskins on Thursday.
In total on Thursday, Atlanta loses a game to the Nats (they are 8 back) and half a game to the Phils (1½ back).
The Nats head home with Miami on Friday; the Phils get the Mets for 3 more this weekend.