5:03pm: Angels righty Noe Ramirez has also been suspended for a trio of contests after also being deemed to have thrown at the head of a hitter. In his case, he went after Jake Marisnick in apparent retribution for the outfielder’s own recent actions, which resulted in an injury to Halos catcher Jonathan Lucroy and a two-game ban for Marisnick.
Halos skipper Brad Ausmus also took a one-game ban, which he’ll serve tonight. Ramirez will appeal the suspension, he tells reporters including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
4:44pm: Major League Baseball has announced a three-game suspension for Phillies righty Hector Neris. He was deemed to have thrown intentionally at Dodgers infielder David Freese.
Here’s video of the incident. MLB cited the fact that the pitch was thrown “in the area of the head” of the hitter in explaining its decision.
Neris, the Phils’ closer, will appeal the suspension, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). If he loses or abandons the appeal, the punishment will take him out of the ninth inning for a brief stretch. Some might say that poor performance had already threatened such a move.
It was a brutal showing for Neris last night, as he coughed up three-run bomb to blow his fourth save. All of those have come since June 14th, with three coming since June 27th alone. Neris had a 1.88 ERA in mid-June; that has ballooned to 4.08. He evidently decided to take out his frustration on Freese, who strode to the plate after the ill-fated pitch.
Next up is Ramirez
You called it!!
An incredibly ridiculous punishment for a deliberate life threatening act.
lets charge him with intentional murder as well, because why not?
Lol. Hyperbole much?
Tell that to all the players who have been killed after getting hit in the head. I bet they are screaming from the grave “it’s ok, my death was hyperbole! And pitchers didn’t throw that hard back then. Tell it to Tony Coniglario, Red Sox ’67, whose life was ruined.
You sir, are mr. no class!
Such a humanist. And here I thought most trolls were robots.
Only 1 player in the history of the MLB has died of getting hit by a pitch. So to act like a guy receives life altering injuries after a hbp often is stupid.
His name was Ted Lyons, as I recall.
How can I tell them anything if they are dead?
IMO it wasn’t intentional, but even if it was, why 3? Rhame got 2 for throwing at Rhys, at least keep thing consistent.
I don’t think you’d get many people agreeing with your opinion. He gives up a 3-run jack and the very next pitch he pitches very high and almost behind Freese. The suspension should be greater; however, did that fire Philly up? They got rocked in first game of the series and blew a big lead in this one. Shortly after they won. Did that old-school/horrible attempt at a brushback fire his team up? Just guessing, but it probably had more to do with Kenley having a poor outing in bottom of the ninth.
The shift did the Dodgers in more than Kenley did & after the game Kenley said he should have come out of the game after taking a line drive off his ankle & since the trainer didn’t pull him then it falls on the Trainer & Roberts for leaving him in the game
Kenley said he was ok . I agree that Roberts is the villain here, if that is not too strong. ManageDave, manage! This was another game he cost us or should we blame this on Friedman?
Not sure how serious you are in your comment, but your last sentence touches upon my oblique allusion. There is a tendency to say “A caused B,” when it is rarely that simple.
Over a pitch? Why didnt they give more games to jake marisnick for hitting lucroy thats more life threatening
Marisnick took the inside path and almost ended Lucroy career and only gets a two-day suspension and to make it worse marisnick appealing the decision of this suspension and the ball slips out of Ramirez’s hand and he gets a longer suspension go figure
Let’s not act like that ball simply slipped into Jake. Jake was beaned as he should have been.
the ball just spun higher than likely intended or acceptable.
This may be one of the most laughable posts I’ve ever read on this site.
after yours!
Just slipped right out, did it?
He is such a violent man. Anyone who deliberately commits a life threatening act by throwing a baseball over 90 miles per hour at someones head is violent. Why is he so violent? This is not good.
Won’t somebody think of the children???
Good thing Coach Drake wasn’t there.
Who!!??
LOL You beat me to it!
What are you ten? “Why is he so violent?”
Tell that to Tony Coniglario. Oh, wait. You can’t. His life was ruined when he got intentionally hit in the head back in 1967. I guess you better say that to Ted Lyons then. Oh… You can’t do that either because he got intentionally hit in the head and died. It’s so violent. It’s just so violent. Don’t be ignorant. It’s just so violent.
Ted Lyons did not die of being hit by a pitch. He lived to be 85 years old. I assume you mean Ray Chapman, as he is the only major league player to ever die from being hit by a pitch.
If you look up at fox and jorge78 I was just regurgitating what they said. I’ve never heard of any of those three players before tonight. I did look up all of them though (thanks to you including champan). Clearly fox was wrong about Ted Lyons. I think he was confusing him for Chapman. Conigliari is an interesting story though. You should check it out. Apparently to this day he still holds the American League record as youngest player to ever hit 100 home runs. Then, in ’67 he got hit on the cheek bone by a pitch that caused a fracture which destroyed his left retina. He had to retire immediately. I never heard of him before but if he still holds the record (in this day and age of the juiced ball and through the steroid era) as the youngest player to hit 100 homers he really coulda been something if that injury didn’t destroy his eyesite.
i dont know of the pitch was intentional or not, but the man just gave up what looked like the game winning home run and had no reason to hit some random hitter. what’s so annoying as how this is simply the icing on the cake for this heavily unavailable bullpen. this, people, is why this season is not Klentak or Kapler’s fault, at least alone. (and i say this in spite of the fact that i want kapler gone) its a collective ball of garbage. Hitters aren’t pulling their weight, entire pen is injured, Arrieta has bone spurs, and your top two in the lineup, (theoretically McCutchen and Segura) and they still are above .500 and in a wild card spot. couldnt go much worse, and theyre still very much alive. Harper might just be getting going now, so maybe things coulf be on the upswing.
What are you talking about dude
Did I call ramirez getting a suspension or did I call it
Damn, you did call it & sure enough lol
Not all heroes wear capes.
I will alert the media…..
Marisnick should have gotten 5 games
Not a big fan of throwing at hitters as retaliation. I think it’s pretty stupid, as someone can get seriously injured. Although someone on the halos needed to stand up to Marisnick. I hope baseball can acquire fighting just like hockey… lol
Even if you’re not a big fan of it, that’s baseball. Players will always do it as a form of retaliation and it’s not gonna change
It could change easily. Saying “that’s baseball” is a very lazy comment and simply an excuse. If the umpire would have warned both dugouts prior to the game, and if the league gave out very harsh fines and suspensions for actions like this, I guarantee you, you will see a drastic decline of retaliation hit by pitches.
It’s not a lazy comment, it’s reality. The vast majority of baseball fans enjoy most of the unwritten rules of the game, including drilling a guy in the ribs when/if it’s deserved. It doesn’t need to be changed to appeal to the 3% of people who get their feelings hurt by it.
As for you saying baseball should allow fighting, sure. Let’s have 5’6 120 lb Noe Ramirez call out 6’4 265 lb Marisnick.
Baseball governs itself by allowing leeway for the unwritten rules to avoid fights whenever possible. It’s not good for the game and it’s not good for young fans.
My feelings hurt? No it’s simply too dangerous to be throwing 95-100mph baseballs at peoples heads. It’s not about people’s feelings, it’s about keeping people alive. And that’s very exaggerated of you. Marisnick is 6’4” 220. And Ramirez is 6’3” 205. Very lazy of you to make such a comment. And I never said it needed to be Ramirez, it can be anybody.
Marisnick knew it was coming. Even told his team to calm down. Wish Noe didn’t throw it up so high, but it is what it is.
That’s the reason he got suspended.
I’ve got no problem with the location that it hit Marisnick. It was meant to send a message. I do have a problem with Ramirez getting more games than Marisnick did. Had the pitch actually hit him in the head, sure, I can see that. The hit Marisnick laid on Lucroy was far more vicious than the pitch that Ramirez threw.
Suspensions aren’t viewed through narrow lenses. The two situations arent comparable as they are not equals. One was a split second decision, that ended up wrong, and the league deemed it to be unintentional. The other was deemed intentional and the suspension was most likely longer than necessary due to the location.
Was annoyed for a minute when I read Noe got a longer suspension than Marisnick. But then I remembered suspensions for relievers has a different exchange rate than everyday players.. 3 games for a reliever is probably roughly equivalent to a 1 game for a position player.
So I don’t mind it. It’s fair. Ausmus 1 game also fair.
But all this “he threw at his head” stuff is nonsense. He hit him in the shoulder blade. It wasn’t head hunting at all.
Houston fans are acting like Noe shot at him
So Marisnick who initiated the whole event by taking out Lucroy was given only 2 games, but Ramirez who is just defending his teammate is given three for throwing a pitch? Everyone knew that jake was going to get beaned just move on from incident, if that’s the payback for knocking out a catcher so be it he got off lucky
Everything would have turned out just like you outlined had he hit Marisnick in the hip. He didn’t and intentionally went higher. Ramirez gets what he deserves.
Absolutely deserves the suspension. Got as far as college as a pitcher and there is no need to go head hunting. Hit him in the wallet and go out with the guys after the game.
More brutal showing for Jansen. The bullpen will ultimately be their undoing in the post season. Also weak finger pointing by Jansen.
So….Marisnick runs into a catcher and concusses him, 2 games.
Noe hits Marisnick on the back, no injury suffered, and gets 3.
Makes a ton of sense. Neither guy intended to cause injury, but one did.
If you throw at someone, it better be in the ribs and not high on the back. Noe deserved to get suspended.
That pitch was higher than it should have been. This false narrative Astros fans immediately concocted that Noe was blatantly head hunting is ridiculous, though.
He threw inside, the pitch had spin, but it drifted high. I think the location of the pitch was a mistake.
However, Noe didn’t make contact with a guy’s head and knock him out. Jake did. The suspensions should reflect that, IMO.
You mean like the ridiculous false narrative that Marisnick intentionally hit Lucroy and meant to hurt him. Marisnick’s wasn’t intentional but still deserves a 1-2 game suspension due to league rules.
He also deserved to get beaned due to the unwritten rules of baseball. However, you never target up and in…and everyone but homer Angels fans know that he meant to throw it where he did. Ribs, rear, etc are all acceptable. Head is a huge no-no.
He intentionally stepped inside the base path and created a completely avoidable collision. I don’t think he intentionally meant to hurt Lucroy.
Marisnick had an open path to the plate, didn’t take it, and stepped inside the base path which resulted in significant injury and concussion, though.
Just like I don’t think Noe meant to go anywhere near Jake’s head (I’ve actually spoken to Noe a few times, interviews and stuff). If an Angels pitcher actually threw at a guy’s head, I’d want him off the team. There’s no place for that in baseball.
Marisnick was also headhunting when he took out Lucroy and seriously injured him what’s the difference
I actually don’t think so. I think Jake made a mistake by not taking the open lane, say Lucroy move towards the line and figured if contact was coming he’d deliver rather than receive the blow.
Yes Jake brought up his shoulder prior to impact, but he kind of bounced off Lucroy rather than really drop the hammer.
The fact of the matter is, though, that he did make significant contact with the head and neck of a player when it could have been avoided. Lucroy’s feet and body were within the baseline at all times, Jake could have just gone outside.
There’s no place for a dirty player in baseball Marisnick the headhunter
Then Ramirez and Ausmus don’t deserve to be in baseball either with your mentality.
whole astros should have been suspended when it cheated on cards. life time ban would have been more like it.
You do realize that the Cardinals were punished for hacking the Astros, right??
Oh he was not.
You left out:
One was planned before the game and the other was a heat in the moment decision.
Bingo! One was an accident, the other clearly intentional. Hit him below the waist, no issue. If Marisnick hadn’t flinched, the ball would have hit him dead in the head. Ramirez gets what he deserves. Probably should have got more.
Given their history, Aj Hinch and the Astros would have had far less a problem if Rameriz had hit his own wife instead of Marsinick.
Also this dumb move by Manfred, just insures this embarrassing saga stays in the news cycle longer. The players union is going to WAX this clown show in the next collective bargaining agreement.
Don’t bet on that.
I’m a huge Angel fan and I say good. I couldn’t believe it when Noe Ramirez threw at JM. JM handled it with class, a few on the Astro bench didn’t, and Ramirez should have been suspended.
As far as the Astro bench, when you get Pujols walking towards you, you know you crossed the line.
I’m not sure why Ausmus was suspended. He would have never ordered chin music with no one outs in a four run game against the Astros. There are too many good hitters on that team to do that.
What are you talking about. Noe hit him in the numbers not his head. It was a standard retaliation move. One of the oldest in baseball. This is a non-story that was misPR’d into a big story by baseball.
How long have you followed baseball? Ramirez tried to hurt him.
1) If you want to hurt someone, you throw it behind their head and just below his head, which is pretty close to where that pitch was.. If JM wasn’t looking for it, and reacted in a way that a surprised hitter would have reacted, he might have gotten hit in the head.
2) Pinpoint control usually means a pitcher can throw a ball within a square foot of where he is aiming.
When Weaver threw a pitch well above Guillen’s head several years ago, and clearly was not trying to hit him, but only send a message, I thought that suspension was ridiculous. This suspension was warranted. Ramirez tried to hurt him.
Thank you for your unbiased insight. (Tips cap).
yeah, but you still think mari didn’t deserve suspension? i hope you had not taken too many pitches up on your head.
I’ve been beaned in the head twice, once by a guy throwing in the low 90s.
I’ve also stated that due to the rules, Marisnick did deserve his suspension. What I’ve also said is that he didn’t intentionally target Lucroy.
Not entirely accurate.
As I have written here, based on intent, I didn’t see how you could suspend him. When Torre said he suspended him because of an illegal “contact” even though he felt there was not intent, I said I was fine with that. I also said I couldn’t understand why Astro fans had a problem with 2 games.
Two games was fair. And I would not have had a problem with zero games.
If you are going to attribute a position to me, it’s best to get the complete position.
what intent? intent to launch himself to a defenseless catcher with his arm raised? quite classy!
1. What game were you watching? If it hit him in back, which by the laws of physics would mean that he would have had to jump upwards to avoid the head.
2. More importantly, why are you ascribing intent to a dude you dont know. It hit him in an area that WAS NOT the head. If he wanted to hurt him, he would have, you know, hurt him.
This is pearl clutching. It was handled business as usual. NEXT!
Marisnick intentionally came in at Lucroy and hurt him I don’t get your point Astro fan
It hit in the back because he was expecting it. And if you don’t think it was not intentionally, then I don’t know what to say.
I totally disagree with you Marisnick veered into the field of play an intentionally bull Lucroy over no matter how you slice it and dice it that was intentional
I understand your point and I respect it. Your position is perfectly reasonable. JM went out of his way to get to Lucroy.
I just thought JM was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He absolutely lowered his shoulder, and it could have been done for self preservation. JM made a split second decision to go through him.
But there is no doubt in my mind that Ramirez threw up and in and behind JM last night. None. And if you are honest, there is no doubt in your mind either.
Clearly your view is 100% biased and you fail to see the entire play for what it was. Lucroy was moving INTO the baseline, towards the outside lane. That is an indisputable fact that the video clearly shows.
JM is an extremely fast runner who was positioned to go outside until Lucroy shifted that direction when receiving the ball. JM planted his RIGHT FOOT on the outside of the line and shifted to the inside (he stated he did this because he thought Lucroy was going to the outside). If he intentionally was targeting Lucroy he never would’ve planted on the outside, he would’ve veered to the inside the whole time.
It was an ugly play that could’ve been avoided by JM staying on the outside AND by Lucroy not shifting to the outside without full possession of the ball. Just as the runner is expected to avoid contact, the catcher must also give the runner a clear path if he isn’t in full possession of the ball.
JM did not maliciously take out Lucroy.
you must have very impartial opinion. yeah!
A defenseless catcher encased in a suit of armor? Good god! I got suspended for two games for running over a catcher in Little League. I was 12. It is baseball and it is over.
consider the damages! a guy who almost murdered lucroy gets 2 game ban and a pitcher whose pitch didn’t even nick a batter gets 3?
no matter the reason, you throw at someone intentionally you should get suspended. no issue with either suspension even if Neris’s wasnt assuredly intended. Noe could have gone over to Marisnick and punched him square in the jaw and i wouldve seen it as justified. throwing at someone, especially at someone’s head, is cowardly and of almost unparalleled danger as far as things that may happen in baseball go. go settle it when he isnt at your mercy. he’ll probably understand, and might just even oblige a smack in favor of being thrown at.
If threw at his ribs, I wouldn’t have had an issue. In 2007 A.J. Pierzynski got hit in the ribs when everyone on planet Earth knew he was going to get hit. He trotted down to first base, didn’t say a word, and that was the end of it.
Ribs.. OK… Behind his head, totally not OK.
he hit him in the shoulder, depite the fact that Marisnick jumped. if he didnt, it probably would have hit him in the head. my point, though, is that no matter where you intend to throw it, you can still accidentally hit the guy in the head.
I’m commenting about this:
“No matter the reason, you throw at someone intentionally you should get suspended.”
I don’t agree with that , Sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable to stick a ball in someone’s ribs. But that isn’t what happened here and I agree with the suspension.
He didnt jump, he twisted.
I agree, sometimes a rib/rear end shot are perfectly acceptable. Ribs shots hurt like Hades too!
swip the classlesstros!
Marisnick has been the definition of class through all of this.
Yes, he has. He’s a great guy. Was immediate apologetic for hitting Lucroy and knew what was coming. He has handled this as respectfully as he could given the situation. Can’t say the same for Ramirez or the Angels fans.
Ramirez is a self-proclaimed control pitcher, and no one outside of biased fans believe the ball “slipped.” I would’ve been all for a rear end or lower back beaning…that’s baseball. Take the lump and everyone loves on. Throwing at anyone’s head, or even near it, it’s deplorable.
I think I’m most disappointed in Ausmus. I thought he was better than that.
Publ
I for one do not accept Marisnick apology that was intentional he veered into the field of play I got tired of hearing Astro fans saying Lucroys was blocking the plate both of Lucroy feet were inside the field of play leaving an open path
His apology wasn’t to you, it was to Lucroy. If you get tired of hearing it, don’t listen. Astros fans are tired of hearing about how Marisnick tried to murder Lucroy, blah blah blah.
Watch the video, all angles. Lucroy was shifting to the outside. Regardless of his position, he APPEARED to be moving to the outside and a very fast runner had a split second to react to that. He unfortunately reacted in the wrong direction.
Angels fans don’t have class now? I’ve posted respectfully and seen most the Angel fans I know on here do the same. Lucroy was hit illegally, JM was going to get thrown at, baseball always evens the score policing itself. It does not matter how much a guy apologizes, he broke a rule and then got thrown at. That should be the end of it, it’s baseball. I do not like the payback pitch was at his head, it should have been much lower. He knew he was going to get suspended for the pitch, 3 days suspension is fair regardless of what JM got. Now life goes on and back to baseball.
Definitely classy Angels fans here, same as there are dimwit Astros fans too. Everyone knew he was going to get hit, and if it would’ve been in an “appropriate spot,” all of this conversation would be moot. I personally feel that it shows a lack of class and emotional control by Ramirez, and possibly Ausmus, by the location of the throw. Ramirez self-proclaimed he is a control pitcher, and control pitchers don’t miss spots that badly. He intended to throw there.
Maybe the Phillies can close a game out in the next 3. Not sure what kind of pictures Neris has of Kapler and Klentak bit he’s not a closer
Neris isn’t as great a closer as his numbers suggest, but he’s a great 8th inning man. that’s why i wish they got Kimbrel. that would be a great end-game.
Someone must have something on Klentak, or he just likes the layout of the 2014 scouting reports and refuses to look at anything newer.
Up until few weeks ago he was a borderline all star. He was 17/19. Now he’s 17/21. He’s not bad, but not lights out which is pretty standard for the majority of closers in baseball.
Can Jansen get a ban for losing last nights game
Now we are talking!
I’m hoping Framber Valdez throws behind an Angels batter tonight and gets suspended for the season! Then Tyler White can come in to pitch and do the same!
I believe the score is settled would you like the Astros to escalate this war
It was tongue-in-cheek about getting our poor performing players off the team. Calm down.
Anyone who watched the angels/astros game last night could see that after it happened Marisnick wasn’t angry at all. Guy took his lumps and didn’t complain. When the dugouts cleared he was even motioning to his teammates to go back in. Don’t think what Marisnick did was intentional to Lucroy but he handled the paypack very well.
If JM didn’t expect to get hit, he might have been hit in the head. I didn’t think JM was a dirty player, now I’m even more convinced. he’s not.
He impressed the heck out of me last night.
Apparently its ok to throw at someone only if you throw at the right body part. Is it also ok to run into the catcher as long as you run into the right body part? Is it ok to take out the guy at second base if you run into the right body part? Maybe baseball should publish a body map so the players can know the right places to hit without being punished. That would be helpful.
The former is true, and everyone knows it. The later is a bit trickier,
If Ramirez would have stuck one in his ribs, I bet that would have been the end of it. He didn’t, and hopefully Ramirez’s suspension is the end of it.
how many millimeters lower would have satisfied you? as ramirez said the ball kind of slipped out of his hand.
I don’t believe him… It just so happened that it went behind JM’s head on a fastball?
it was on his back not his head. high back but not any higher.
but you believe mari had no intentions to ‘cannon ball’ into lucroy. must have been “split second decision”.
Unfortunately, throwing at the head is the new normal. Maybe they could take away two defensive players for the next three outs. That would be fun to watch. Keystone cops.
Mostly with AL pitchers because they don’t have to worry about retaliation for the majority of their games. No chance Ramirez does that if he had to get in the batters box himself. Hinch would’ve had James throw 101 mph into his ribs.
one question. was mari hit on his head? no! but lucroy still has proof he was hit on his head! very possibly, intentionally!
I love this site. And the comments are worth reading most times. But this incident has brought out the very dumbest of baseball fans. I’m sorry, Houston. I know you like your hustler and your manager, but you’re the only ones.
All Jake has is that play. And all Hinch has is his awful, awful bitching and moaning. He’s the Mike DiAntoni of baseball.
Just stop. It was blatant. Ramirez pitch was too, but baseball really crapped the bed on his suspension and each of you know it. I expect that from baseball. This crying from the Houston faithful is pathetic.
Most of the crying has been from the Angels fan base actually. Also, you say this is all JM and Hinch have, but I think you forgot about that 2017 World Series ring and solid chance at another in 2019.
I know you think you make some kind of solid point that the world supports, but you don’t.
World support who do you think you guys are the Dallas Cowboys… LOL
I’m convinced that your reading comprehension isn’t up to snuff.
Hector Neris is an incredibly nice guy, and I find it hard to believe that he intentionally threw at Freese, BUT it certainly looked intentional. So maybe it was. Umps handled it right with the ejection. Suspension is also the right move. Scary moment. Glad Freese is ok.
Marisnick did it on purpose, he should have copped a far greater suspension-at least 20 games. Neris did it on purpose, he should have got 10 games.
Ramirez should have got 0 games, Marisnick deserved what he got for the injuries he caused to Lucroy for no good reason-a disgusting act, and just watch him change direction on the line he was running-utterly disgraceful and intentional.
Joe Torre didn’t reinforced the Buster Posey rule so Noe Ramirez had to reinforce it
I like my chips with the da dip….