It didn’t take long for there to be fireworks when the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Houston Astros, as Joe Kelly threw a fastball behind Alex Bregman and a couple of breaking balls that came close to Yuli Gurrierl and Carlos Correa.
While it was after a strikeout, the end result was both benches clearing in the first game of the series at Minute Maid Park. Kelly was not ejected from the game, but he was handed an eight-game suspension the following day, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also being suspended a game.
The ruling predictably didn’t sit well in the Dodgers clubhouse. When extrapolated for a normal season, Kelly’s suspension is the equivalent of 22 games. “I think we were all pretty shocked. It seemed very, very harsh,” AJ Pollock said.
“It’s obviously the commissioner’s call, but I don’t think anybody is too happy about that. I just don’t think it’s a very good feel on his end. Hopefully in the appeals they can actually dig into it more and we can move past it.”
When taking into account everything the Astros did and the fact that Kelly didn’t even hit anyone, Pollock questioned if MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had a full grasp of the situation and if he approaches all teams under the same scope.
“When a pitcher is on the mound and guys get hit, stuff happens. No one got hit, and I think they’re trying to find some intent. That’s a really hard thing to find. This game has policed itself for so many years,” Pollock said.
“You hope that all teams are being treated equally, and I don’t know if he’s doing that. For me personally and most baseball guys who are true baseball guys, they would say that’s outrageous. It didn’t seem right to me.
“Especially with what happened with the Astros. There’s been no suspensions on that end. It’s just bizarre. I don’t think anyone is too happy about it. Like I said, we’re hoping that gets significantly reduced. Eight games in a 60-game season is pretty outrageous.”
It’s worth noting MLB announced the suspensions through senior vice president of baseball operations Chris Young, a friend and teammate of Roberts.
Kelly is appealing his suspension and remained eligible the past two games. He appeared in Thursday’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, logging a scoreless seventh inning.
MLB players come to Kelly’s defense
It appears Pollock and the rest of the Dodgers weren’t the only ones upset with the length of Kelly’s suspension. Various players around the league, including the New York Mets’ Marchus Stroman, Los Angeles Angels’ Kenyan Middleton and retired pitchers Jered Weaver and Phil Hughes all came to his defense on social media.
If there’s one thing that’s clear in all of this it’s that even if the league protects the Astros, it isn’t going to change how other trams feel about them.
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