Major League Baseball announced the ruling of the appellate hearing for Astros reliever Bryan Abreu. While the two-game suspension for hitting Adolis García with a pitch has been upheld, the right-hander is allowed to postpone the ban until the start of the 2024 regular season.
Former big leaguer Adam Jones first reported that Abreu’s suspension would be delayed on Foul Territory this afternoon. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reports that the right-hander’s fine was also reduced (X link).
Abreu hit García with a 99 MPH fastball in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 5. García had hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in his previous at-bat. After being plunked, the Rangers slugger confronted Houston catcher Martín Maldonado, leading both dugouts to empty. Abreu was ejected for what the umpiring crew (and subsequently MLB) determined was an intentional hit-by-pitch. García was thrown out of the game for arguing with Maldonado, while Houston skipper Dusty Baker was also tossed after he vehemently argued Abreu’s ejection. Houston came back to win the game on Jose Altuve’s homer in the ninth.
The pitcher was the only player suspended for the incident. Abreu’s appeal allowed him to pitch last night. Baker called upon him for one inning in an eventual 9-2 loss. Since he only tossed 20 pitches, he’ll be available for tonight’s Game 7. Abreu pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 72 regular season innings. He has tossed 7 1/3 frames of two-run ball this October.
2 games in the playoffs are not equal to 2 in the regular season.
“Oh, sorry! Take your pitcher back. We just wanted to generate some drama to buff the TV ratings a bit.”
—MLB
It would be interesting if a) the guy retired afterwards or b) thr guy became a free agent afterwards
Or they enforce it only when the Rangers play the Astros again in the ALDS with the condition that Abreu can’t retire until his suspension is served.
“All debts must be settled…”
But then the Rangers move to the NL in 2027 and Abreu can’t retire because they won’t move back. Hahah, the guy is 75 in 2073 in Spring Training…
75 y/o Abreu: “well, im thinkin bout retirin real soon and nice like”
MLB official: “No you’re not.”
points to a sign, that reads—
“All debts must be settled…”
This is pretty funny
@Seager, if he becomes a free agent he serves suspension with new team. If he waits to sign with a new team he’d serve once on active roster.
Now if he were to retire and not have 10 yrs of service time, he’d just be done. If he did have the 10 yrs maybe MLB could without hold the value of a 2 games from his last contract out of his pension. But that’s just speculating a possibility, I’m not sure. I’d assume it wouldn’t be worth the hassle for MLB over a 2 game suspension.
If he retires they should make his offspring serve it the first time they get called up. And if he doesn’t have any adult sons then his first born or closest relative in an athletically adjacent activity. His niece will get suspended from the first half of her freshman year field hockey match. Yeah. That’ll show him. You don’t mess with baseball and the Big D. And if no active relatives- go to his block and bum rush the paperboy on his morning delivery- knock him off his bike, every day, for the first 3 weeks
@Hemlock, while I agree they are not equal. With the contractual language between MLB and MLBPA there was no way he’d serve a suspension during the playoffs. If MLB did don’t agree to defer he’d just appeal and the process would not be done til after playoffs anyways.
Thanks for clarifying.
It’s a silly look for the sport. We’re going to suspend you. Oh but they’re these games in late March next year. Why bother? What is the point? You might as well make them spring training games, which would save him the inconvenience of not being able to play in games that matter.
I agree it looks silly on the surface. But just the way their appeal process works they get to play in minor infractions such as that.
Now what would b interesting is if a scenario similar to Urias or Bauer came up during ALCS/NLCS or World Series. I wonder if they’d cone down as harsh and decisive or if they’d try and run distraction til the playoffs finished.
Wow, you blocked me over that In Seager?? You can’t even have a civil discussion with someone???
Or they could let him play but say he’s not allowed to throw his cutter or circle change for the first 3 batters he faces in any weekday afternoon games in April and May
I am pretty sure this WAS the appeal @Tigers. I think it’s in the best interests of MLB, not thr union, because he probably doesn’t lose pay over postseason games and the Astros get a discount next year in pay but get to use him now.
Sorry, Seager my bad. The reply buttons had disappeared.
To the best of my knowledge though the appeals process never has or does work in a matter of days. I’m just guessing, bit I believe he appealed and then the delayed suspension was then agreed upon likely between his player rep and a MLB official. I’m not certain but that’s what I’d assume.
I heard the appeal hearing was to be done before the next game, according to MLB Network. I think it’s part of the newer agreement. It would be quite interesting to see how they approach the Bauer/Urias thing. With Urias, they would probably go the route of using angry old white men with hoods and burning crosses, if you know what I mean. No need to resolve it if someone else settles the issue for you
Well I suppose it’s good to expedite as long as it’s not an appeal where each side needs time to gather information.
He doesn’t lose any pay but does he lose any sleep? That can be arranged
@Seager – angry old white men? Hoods and burning stuff?
The Catholic Church?
The KKK… those SJWs avenging offended white women
And I think it’s absurd to think it wasnt intentional. Do you know the odds of this happening on the first pitch to the hitter that hit the home run on the very next pitch he sees? (not the third pitch, not two at bats later, not the first hitter he faced in the inning) with only the second fast ball all year that he beaned someone????
It was intentional and Both abreu and garcia should have been tossed
I think both benches should have been warned after Abreu hit Garcia. That’s what normally happens.
MLB is a joke. Why bother even making him sit out 2 games next year?? Waste of time I say.
Was in a joke when Campy Campanaris served his 7 game suspension after the 72 World Series?
The people who criticize baseball the most know the least about it?
Changes the punishment completely. Who cares about april
Agreed. If the penalty was upheld, he should have to sit out tonight’s game. Remember the NBA and that fight between the Heat and the Knicks in the 90s? Ewing just stepped over the line and was suspended for game seven. That was overkill in my view but having a policy with teeth likely prevents more incidents.
@DynamiteAdams Dude shouldn’t have even been ejected, let alone suspended for two whole games.
No idea why you’re seemingly complaining about this.
MLB messed this one up. It wasn’t intentional and Adolis Garcia overreacted, this might set a bad precedent. If a player’s reaction is going to be used as a way to determine intent, this is going to be a problem especially in the playoffs when emotions and the adrenaline are running high.
Didnt see the event live, but I was looking at it on the mlb website, and my first thought was, oof, Abreu doesn’t have command right now.. I mean, he walked the previous batter. I guess I can imagine it being intentional, but that would be serious bush league stuff.
> Abreu doesn’t have command right now..
> I mean, he walked the previous batter.
kellin,
Someone else on here commented that Abreu threw 1200+ MLB pitches this year and only hit ONE batter. So how does he “unintentionally” hit the guy who did/did not just show up his team after hitting a potentially series changing HR?
That’s inaccurate. He had 3 HBP this year in 72 innings. Also 4.2 BB/9 for his career so he isn’t exactly Greg Maddux.
It was three hits batsman in 1200+ pitches and only 1 on a fastball all year. So, to hit garcia on the first pitch he sees after his home run on a fastball …yeah
That, thanks.
How does he do it? He throws inside and misses even further inside. He put a guy on base that he really didn’t want on base. Over reaction from the hitter, and I am a Ranger fan.
@Hemlock Do you need someone to explain to you what “unintentional” means? Or why it would be so absurd for the HBP to be intentional in that specific scenario?
Sounds like he was due for one then
He dis not walk the previous batter. Garcia was first and only batter he faced that game.
Sigh Please look at the box score. Unless he walked someone after he was tossed, he walked his first hitter.
I stand corrected, he did face 2 batters. I always forget they do not list HBPs as walks in box scores.
@almond please explain to me how you can’t read box scores?
@Kellin, Almond is right. HBPs are not listed as BB in box scores, they are notated at bottom like SBs.
Really? Look up the game recap if you can’t read box scores. It says
Pitching change: Bryan abreu replaces hector neris
Evan carter walks
Bush league is walking to first base and slamming your bat on the ground, 20 years ago, there would be no suspension. There would be no question, show up a picture, and you’re going to wear one at your next step bat.
BS, pitching inside and hitting batters has been a part of the game for 120 years, if you pimp a home run the way, Garcia did, you were one next at period.
It’s theater—the suspension and everything after.
It helps get people talking about baseball.
It also helps keep baseball relevant to the crowd that doesn’t always follow baseball and it might cause some of them to tune in now just to see what happens next.
If they need it then good god, this is one of the best/most exciting series in years
No dog in this fight, but just to play devils advocate, if Bregman pimped a homer and the next at bat got drilled by a 99 mph fastball, would you encourage him to shut up and take his base? No punishment necessary.
Honestly the game is way too important. They need him and every other player on that roster until the last out. Can’t start fisticuffs.
Well, regardless, it means nothing now because it’s 2 games to be served in April next season. So basically they just have to go with someone else in that situation in two games in April. Now at this point, who even cares.
Agree. However, those HBP can be lethal or destroy a career. Maybe whenever a pitcher hits a batter, they get fined. If you don’t have control at this point, you shouldn’t be pitching.
@angelscamp, you cannot expect perfect command.
My personal opinion is if a pitcher hits a batter, it’s two bases and an ejection, intentional or not.
My personal opinion on Abreu, it was a slip. Outside of Garcia being hit, all the evidence suggest slip. The path the ball took looked unnatural to me (after watching several replays) but also it’s hard to tell when the angle is off center. The game situation, being down two in the playoffs. The fact Abreu walked the first batter on 5 pitches, which clearly shows his command was off.
Pitcher typically have glove side run, it’s simple physics, when the body momentum is going glove side, the ball will naturally carry there. The pitch went arm side which suggest a slip, the release point was off, in my opinion.
How does Adolis García not get a suspension when he shoved the ump and Maldonado?
It’s like the NCAA decided this
This is total crap and I don’t care which team wins.
This type of precedent will make it hard to punish anyone in the playoffs and will open the door for this type of crap.
Oh, I’m retiring at the end of the year anyway so I’ll just do whatever I want….
What about a FA? Penalize his next team?
Total BS.
Never thought of the free agent angle. Good point.
Too much celebrating in baseball. MLB could start equalizing things by fining bat tosses/slams or just let pitchers police it like they used to.
“Equalizing things”
Unless someone tosses a bat at a pitcher, there is no world in which that action merits equal punishment to a pitcher targeting a hitter
Bush league.
Rangers going to whip that ass regardless.
You called it.
The degree of childishness amongst mlb players never ceases to amaze me
This isn’t even a punishment.
Are you kidding? He’s going to miss the all important March 28, 2024 game 😉
Once again MLB bends over backwards so those snowflakes in Houston.
There isn’t much snow in Texas, so the internet is thr only source of snowflakes in Texas. Having lived in Austin, I noticed a lot of these snowflakes have legs.
MLB ought to eliminate the home run trot, which has become a farce with bat flips, gestures,etc.. and a waste of time. Speed the game up and eliminate the antics that generate these adolescent acts of retribution. God knows the players “policing themselves” only leads to more soap opera BS.
So his punishment ‘slips’ into 2024?
The fact that he got suspended at all is ridiculous. Do the people in charge of these suspensions even understand the game?
They understand increased TV ratings, which this helps generate.
I’m actually fine with this.
As you know by my username, I’m an Astros fan, so full disclosure.
Personally, I think it may have been intentional.
1) There is bad blood between these teams and I expected multiple times for the benches/bullpens to empty before the series even started.
2) The Astros are confident (overconfident) enough to possibly think they could still get out of that jam without giving up a run.
3) The Astros are smart enough/experienced enough where they could possibly think it was worth the risk for psychological benefits it would give.
On the other hand:
1) This is the ALCS and Abreu is the single most valuable relief pitcher on your team – Can’t risk losing him, have Stanek or Blanco hit him if its going to be intentional.
2) He is not a control pitcher and had just walked the previous hitter.
3) The ALCS is tied 2-2 and the team is down by 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. It is absolutely crazy and stupid to put another runner on and move a guy into scoring position with no outs.
If an umpire or umpire team is going to eject a player, if the league office is going to suspended a player in the post season then it MUST be absolute 100% sure with no doubt.
I do not see how there can be certainty.
2 game suspensions in the regular season don’t need the same scrutiny. And don’t penalize the team and fans the same.
I also can’t believe Garcia wasn’t suspended as well. He instigated it and touched 2 umpires which usually cones with punishment. But his suspension should have been regular season also.
Same idea applies- don’t penalize the team or the fans
But… those umpires he touched weren’t women, so that’s not going to get him suspended. Beyond that, I think it may have been like “pitch inside and if you hit him, oh well”
So much BS. MLB doesn’t want to decrease the chances Houston makes the series. God forbid the Rangers when the ALCS. Just shows that the commissioner wields his influence whenever he wishes.
Kabuki theater aside, it’s been a decent ALCS.
MLB made a wise decision. While t’s possible Abreu did it on purpose, it was also a 4-2 game in the 8th with the top of Houston’s formidable lineup getting some chance in the 9th. Against a terrible bullpen.
Suspending Abreu for 2 playoff games when it’s reasonable to think it could have been an accident is insane.
C’mon, this is the Stros. They clearly have access to tomorrow’s paper in advance and Dusty said “Yeah, plunk him”
Total bs and gives no merit at all to the suspension. May as well have said no harm no foul
How about we save time and most of you just start your post with “I hate the Astros and no matter what the facts say I am going to ignore them”.
The Astros were losing in the 8th when it happened, no one throws that pitch knowing it could mean losing the series.
Garcia should get a heavy suspension for instigating it with his reaction, he shoved the Astros catcher, then was running around like a maniac. He escaped from his teammates and charged at Maldy with his right fist cocked back, he intended to throw a haymaker at Maldy. He got a fine for that.
MLB is corrupt, Rob Manfred is corrupt and is using his power to let other teams throw at the Astros, unjustly punish Astros, and unjustly not punish those who attack the Astros.
Remember after the cheating scandal happened, it turns out every team was doing some cheating according to Joey Votto and other major leaguers, how many times the Astros got plunked in the pre season? Nothing was done to any of those players or teams, it was obviously going after the Astros players, some of it with intent to hurt.
As long as Manfred is Commissioner, MLB games should be looked at with questions as to the integrity of the game because he refuses to enforce the rules in an even handed way. He let the Cardinals walk away with a late 2nd and late 3rd round pick given up. They used the database to draft players ahead of where the Astros had planned to draft them. No other team was doing this, only the Cardinals, who hacked into the Astros system. The penalty should have been 2-3 years of 1st and 2nd round picks, and maybe let the Astros plunk a couple of players from the Cardinals who the Cardinals drafted because they knew the Astros were going to draft them next.
Did he throw at him intentionally? Yes he did
The score of the game the speed of the pitch the time of the day what he had for breakfast, none of that matters because he threw at him intentionally. Should he be suspended now? Yes he should. The goal is to win the playoff game so wait until next season to hit him but no, they couldn’t do it and now they want special favors and they got special favors.
Also this
cbssports.com/mlb/news/david-samson-explains-why-m…
They threw the book at Joe Kelly
Yes, anyone who comments on the so-called sign stealing scandal without having read the Evan Drellich book showing the practice was widespread is a bitter homer with no credibility.
That makes it not cheating? Is there a weaker excuse for a cheat than “everybody cheats”?
So then when a pitcher does a happy dance after a strikeout he should expect to see a bat flying at his head, right?
Manfred most likely apologized to the Astros for any inconvenience. What a joke
This is the closest commissioners office will come to admitting they screwed up the whole affair.
I wonder if they do the same with the Bauer situation. It’s essentially the same thing: hitting someone
Fine him $1, too, so it really hurts. What a chicken-sh… decision.
How the F is that any sort of punishment being allowed to defer it until next season?
Astros get away with everything.
To hitters old and young: if you’re gonna pimp every homerun you hit, be prepared to get drilled. If it hurts when you get drilled, then keep that in mind the next time you hit a bomb. It’s that simple.
So, this guy hit Garver in a blowout game (down 6). Do you all really believe that wasn’t intentional?
Looks like Chapman sent a message right back to the Astros.
0-2 is the perfect count to do it with a 104 MPH fastball
An Astros player not getting punished? In other news water is wet.
Well… he did help the Rangers win the next 2 games, so there is that. He reminds me of Ernesto Freiri. That guy was lights out one season before blowing back to back to back saves against the Rangers, I believe. His career went downhill pretty fast after that.
People need to google Lagrow and Campanaris.
Moot point now….
He can seve them in the WS. Oh wait… watching Garcia destroy them in game 7 should be punishment enough
He should be suspended. GUILTY