Joe Kelly, reliever for the Los Angeles Dodgers, had his appeal reduced to five games for pitching near the head of a pair of Houston hitters.
Originally, Major League Baseball suspended the pitcher for eight games on July 29, the day after a 96 mph fastball passed near Alex Bregman’s head while two curves grazed the back of Carlos Correa.
In a statement issued Wednesday night, the union was shocked by the length of the punishment.
“While we understand the concerns raised by the league regarding an incident where the seats were emptied during this challenging season, we are disappointed by the decision,” the union said. “It was an unfair result for Joe Kelly, in light of the arguments presented.”
The Dodgers confirmed Wednesday that the penalty had been lowered, something originally reported on the Barstool Sports blog.
Kelly was placed on the disabled list for 10 days, retroactive to Sunday, with a swollen right shoulder. He will purge his suspension when he returns.
After striking out Correa, Kelly grimaced and began arguing with the shortstop. The benches were emptied in the sixth inning of the game Los Angeles won 5-2 at Houston.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since it was revealed that the Astros stole signs from opponents during the 2017 campaign, in which they defeated the Dodgers in the World Series.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts served his one-game suspension on the same day it was announced. Astros manager Dusty Baker was fined an undisclosed amount.
Kelly denied he had intentionally brought the pitches closer to the Astros. He had been given other suspensions in his career for similar cases.
The penalties were meted out by former pitcher Chris Young, who is Major League Baseball vice president of sports operations. He issued his first ruling since taking over from Joe Torre.(GG) (Taken from MLB in Spanish)