Mariners outfielder Víctor Robles has had his suspension reduced to seven games, reports Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. He will begin serving it tonight. He received a ten-game suspension over a week ago but played for the club while appealing the decision.
The suspension stemmed from an incident which occurred during Robles’s minor league rehab assignment. He had been hit by a pitch numerous times during his rehab, including a few pitches from right-hander Joey Estes, then of the Las Vegas Aviators. Jomboy Media did a thorough rundown of the events which led to Robles losing his temper. As his anger boiled over, he threw a bat towards Estes and his tantrum continued after that.
The league understandably punished Robles, though he exercised his right to appeal. The Mariners reinstated him from the injured list about a week ago while the appeals process was playing out. He has now had the suspension reduced but will need to miss seven contests.
For the Mariners, they will be punished beyond just not having Robles. When a player is suspended for an on-field infraction like this, the team doesn’t get to replace him on the roster, meaning the M’s will have to play with a 25-man roster. The one consolation of that situation is the calendar, as rosters expand from 26 to 28 on September 1st. Still, the M’s will have a shorter bench of just three guys for their weekend series in Cleveland, a key matchup against one of the clubs trying to catch Seattle for a Wild Card spot.
Seattle has Randy Arozarena in left field and Julio Rodríguez in center most days. Since coming off the IL, Robles has been in the right field mix alongside Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley. For the next seven games, those two will handle the spot, with Robles getting back into the mix after he’s served his sentence.
For Robles, it’s going to contribute to a mostly lost season. He dislocated his shoulder early in the campaign, an injury which cost him over four months. He has been limited to just 14 games and has hit .246/.267/.298 in his 60 plate appearances. He still has time to alter those numbers but will have to wait another week.
The M’s were surely hoping for more when they signed Robles last year. A former top prospect, Robles had struggled to click in the majors but seemed to break out with the M’s in 2024. He finished the year with a .328/.393/.467 in 77 games for Seattle. In the middle of that performance, the Mariners signed him to a two-year, $9.75MM deal for the 2025 and 2026 seasons with a 2027 club option.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images
what a year for robles
played for a week in april, missed the rest of the season with injury, a day away from finally returning and he flings his bat at a pitcher and now faces a suspension. the only thing left to do is get busted for ped’s. or assaulting a gf. that’ll complete the trifecta. or quadfecta.
Don’t leave out the part about him being hit by 5 pitches. Dude was fed up with getting hit by pitches and putting his season in further jeopardy. I honestly don’t blame him for doing what he did. I’d be pissed too.
You are really rationalizing throwing a bat?
It’s been crazy how some Seattle fans are trying to justify it.
He’s hit by a lot of pitches because he hangs over the plate. He used to pad his OBP that way when he was a Nat.
The context helps to understand Robles’ decision as it happened. He had just been thru a grueling 3.5 month rehab when he couldn’t be part of the team, he gets back into minor league rehab finally and gets hit 5 times in a week, 3 times by the same pitcher. Also going thru a grieving process because his mother recently passed away. So it was a culmination of frustrations to say the least. Does is justify throwing his bat in the general direction of the pitcher?Absolutely not, and to his credit he realized immediately that he crossed a red line and I thought made a very heartfelt and sincere apology on social media. Compared to the Willson Contreras situation that occurred on Monday, I believe that situation was entirely more dire and inflamed with an unhinged amount of anger (and the bat hit someone!). Yet only 6 games for Willson.
Listen listen.. he’s got a very long list. He’ll get to all of it eventually given time.
Victor Robles contract is why the Braves would be crazy to trade Michael Harris II
I still think Contreras’s incident was worse since it was in the majors and he was after an umpire but what do I know
I disagree. The key issue to me is that Robles was an overhand toss that could have hit someone in the head.
Contreras had a waist level sort of flip.
The bat hit Cardinals coach in chest and head.
Baseball
I would suspend Contreras five games for a waist level flick of the bat and his other antics.
I would suspend Robles seven games for a much more powerful overhand throw of the bat.
Contreras’ suspension will cost him more money.
And Willson Contreras got how many games for going absolutely ballistic on Monday and throwing his bat at the umpire but hitting his own batting coach with it instead?? Then he had to be physically restrained by Marmol to keep him from going at the umpire even further. But I think he only received a light sentence of 6 games, which is under appeal. Geez at least Robles’ bat didn’t actually hit anybody.
I would love to hear the reasoning behind reducing the suspension. If ever a full suspension was warranted, throwing a bat over hand at another player would be it.
I love Robles, but totally agree. To HBan22’s point, I don’t blame him for being pissed at all, but I absolutely do blame him for doing what he did.
He could have seriously hurt someone with that bat, and at a minimum he guaranteed that he hurt himself, his teammates, and this org’s chances of making the playoffs by being so immature in the moment.
Again, love him, but that is unacceptable behavior from a pro.
Would’ve got less time if he charged the mound like a man
Was Joey Estes suspended? If not, it ain’t fair.
It’s not fair that someone got suspended 7 games for overhand hurling a bat at another player? Crazy man.
Jerry, bring up another bench player (Rivas?). You can do without 53 relievers for a week.