Braves starting pitcher Kevin Gausman has been suspended for five games for intentionally throwing a pitch at Marlins pitcher Jose Urena, the league announced on Monday. The suspension was scheduled to begin Monday night, but Gausman has filed an appeal, so the suspension will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
Here was the pitch:
Without context, that would appear to be a total overreaction by the umpire to toss Gausman, especially since neither team had even be warned at the time. Given that it was Urena, however, it's not quite as shocking. He's the one who hit Ronald Acuna in the midst of a hot streak last season that rightfully infuriated the Braves. Among those who were vocal? Yep, Gausman:
#Braves' Gausman: "I think he [Ureña] decided he was going to handle it a certain way. I don’t agree with it, but it’s his career and he’s going to have to deal with the consequences."
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 16, 2018
Looks like he called his shot, no? Surely the league took notice and the home-plate umpire, Jeff Nelson, was aware of the situation before the game. In that case, it's possible one could argue there should've been a warning before the game even started, but it's still easy to justify the ejection.
The five-game suspension isn't a huge deal. Starters sit four games between starts anyway, so Gausman can simply be pushed back. He's appealing, so it's possible it gets cut down, but usually starting pitcher suspensions in these cases are six games and he only got five.
