What started with a bat flip all the way back in October has now resulted in suspensions. Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor has been suspended eight games for punching Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista in the face after Bautista went in hard on a slide.
MLB suspends Rougned Odor 8 games for punching Jose Bautista
Four players and two managers were suspended for Sunday’s brawl, and a total of eight players and coaches received fines for their role in the event.
Odor wasn’t alone in receiving punishment, announced by Major League Baseball on Tuesday:
Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Chavez was suspended three games for throwing at Prince Fielder in the eighth inning.
Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus received a one-game suspension for “his aggressive actions” during the incident.
Bautista was suspended one game for his actions during the incident and for his postgame comments.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was suspended three games for returning to the field following his earlier ejection.
Toronto first base coach Dave Leiper was suspended one game for returning after his ejection. Both Gibbons and Leiper were also fined.
Matt Bush was fined for throwing at Bautista.
Rangers pitcher Sam Dyson and bench coach Steve Buechele were fined for aggressive actions.
Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin and catcher Robinson Chirinos were fined for being on the field while on the DL.
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and outfielder Kevin Pillar were fined for aggressive actions.
Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who was acting manager once Gibbons was ejected, received “standard discipline for intentional actions of Chavez while warnings were in effect.”
Odor and Bautista have appealed, while Andrus will serve his suspension on Tuesday night.
It all started in the 2015 American League Division Series, when Bautista flipped his bat in one of the most iconic moments of the entire year. The Rangers apparently held a grudge, and Rangers pitcher Matt Bush -- whether on his own or under orders -- plunked Bautista in the final game of the weekend series between the two teams. Bautista took issue with that, slid hard and took a punch from Odor. With any luck, this is all over and no one else will get punched in the face or hit by a pitch or slid into hard, but it’s baseball, so at least one of these things could happen again.
The Rangers will miss Odor while he’s gone, as he was batting .283/.313/.500 and had to this point helped them jump into first place in the American League West. Bautista, in the final year of his contract with the Blue Jays, is likely facing a suspension of his own soon. In a tight AL East, any time without Bautista is a negative: The Blue Jays began Tuesday morning under .500 and six games behind the Orioles and Red Sox.
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