Jered Weaver Suspended Six Games

Added on Aug 03, 2011 by Scott in

MLB

Angels ace Jered Weaver’s tower buzz of Detroit’s Alex Avila last weekend will cost him six games after MLB handed down a suspension on Tuesday. Weaver took umbrage with Carlos Guillen’s grandstanding after hitting a home run and took out his frustrations by throwing over Avila’s head with his next pitch. Manager Mike Scioscia was also suspended for one game, which he sat out last night.

Weaver will appeal the suspension and continue to pitch until his hearing in New York City next week. However, in all likelihood the ban will be upheld, which will cause him to miss two scheduled starts in a tight AL West race.

Weaver is 14-5 and leads baseball in ERA at 1.88. He might be the Angels most important player, so sitting out a pair of starts could have a negative impact on their chances to make the playoffs. They currently trail the Rangers by one game in the AL West and the Yankees by seven games in the Wildcard standings.

Scioscia sounded none too pleased about his normally calm and collected ace’s actions.

“Obviously you don’t want to lose a guy like Jered at all, he’s an emotional guy and that’s part of that double-edged sword,” Scioscia said. “It makes him the great competitor he is and also there’s an element there that says, hey, enough is enough. Obviously we wish it didn’t pan out like that, it’s something Weave has never done before, and he’s probably the last guy you’d expect to do it. He pitches inside, he pitches aggressively, he’s got a great reputation around the league for just pitching good baseball, and that’s one that I think he’d like to have back, too.”

Retaliation throws are part of the game, but a part that Scioscia and others would like to see go away. What Guillen did is equally wrong, although showboating hurts nothing but the pitcher’s pride. Hurling a fastball at a batter’s head in order to send a message could result in serious injury. Weaver got whet he deserved and hopefully learned a lesson.

Source: ESPN.com