Tampa Bay Rays’ reliever Edwin Uceta received a three-game suspension and undisclosed fine for intentionally hitting Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos Tuesday night. That’s on top of his ejection from the game.
Additionally, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was suspended for a game as well. Even though there doesn’t appear to have been any directive from Cash to hit Castellanos, when a pitcher is suspended for throwing at an opponent, the manager is also viewed by the league as guilty by association.
When Castellanos came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday, five runs — three of which were charged to Uceta — had already scored for the Phillies in the frame. And an upset Uceta took out his frustrations on Castellanos, leading to the benches clearing.
After the game, Uceta said that he threw a changeup, and wasn’t intentionally trying to hit Castellanos. But as Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times pointed out, tracking data says it was a 96.2 mph sinker.
Uceta apparently clarified Wednesday that the pitch he threw was a fastball, not a changeup. According to the righty, the piece of information got lost in translation:
Uceta also said, per Topkin, that he hasn’t yet decided if he will appeal his three-game suspension.
Cash, though, later indicated that Uceta will begin serving his suspension tonight.
“Again, understand it, understand the perspective, kind of like last night with Philadelphia’s team,” Cash said. “And then understand the perspective of MLB, and I think they’re still determining how it’s going to all play out, but he’ll start serving tonight.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson was asked pregame if he believes the suspension of Uceta was just.
“Yes,” Thomson said.
The league makes these type of swift decisions in hopes of preventing the situation from carrying over to the next game.
“Yeah, and I think they usually do that anyway,” Thomson said of the quick decision. “They try to figure out all the facts quickly and come to a judgement quickly.”
Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper all had strong reactions to the incident after the game Tuesday evening, which you can read about below:
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