Major League Baseball has announced suspensions in the incident between the Tampa Bay Rays as well as the New York Yankees. The most significant punishment was Yankees closer, Aroldis Chapman, who received a three-game suspension for the incident.
Both the Rays manager Kevin Cash and Yankees manager Aaron Boone received one-game suspensions for the incident that was deemed as “throwing” at Brosseau by Chapman.
Aroldis Chapman has been suspended three games, according to a source. Kevin Cash and Aaron Boone have been suspended for one game apiece.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) September 2, 2020
It all stems from Chapman, who threw a fastball at Rays hitter Mike Brosseau that almost hit him in the head. The benches would clear, nothing major within the brawl, but postgame press conferences between Boone and Cash were not pretty.
Cash made a few comments about how the Rays have a “full bullpen” full of relievers who can throw hard at the Yankees hitters. Comments like that will bring in the league and result in some intervention from them.
The two teams are divisional rivals, so heightened tensions between the two should not be considered shocking. But the benches-clearing resulting from the pitch near the head of Brosseau is what set things into motion.
The Rays are 25-12 in first place in the American League (AL) East, with a five-game lead over the Yankees. The Yankees are 20-14 and chasing the Rays as the season presses on.
This is not the first incident with throwing at hitters this year as Joe Kelly was suspended earlier this season for his involvement with the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers incident.
