Major League Baseball has made it’s ruling pertaining to one of the game’s marquee hitters Manny Machado. The league has suspended Baltimore Orioles’ third-baseman Manny Machado for five games and fined him an undisclosed amount of money for his recent on-field transgression.
Machado’s major infraction was deliberately throwing his bat on the field while at the plate in Sunday’s game against the Oakland A’s.
Following the incident that caused both benches to clear, Machado was ejected and a suspension from the league was a forgone conclusion for him and the rest of the league. However, Machado was not expecting the suspension to come in the form of five games which he considers to be harsh.
Machado has filed an appeal on the league’s decision but was in the lineup against Boston on Tuesday. The suspension is scheduled to take effect immediately.
Machado’s fellow teammate and All-Star slugger Chris Davis believes that Machado should just take responsibility and accept the punishment and “turn the page”
Machado sat out the entire month of April while recovering from knee surgery. Since his return to the diamond, offensive production has suffered drastically hitting a mere four homers and 11 RBIs in 140 at-bats, which are not typical Machado statistics.
Nonetheless, the Orioles are still possess one of the best slugging ensembles in the majors. The Orioles are currently third in the majors in batting average (.267) and fifth in slugging percentage (.416). They are second in the AL East Division standings behind only the Toronto Blue Jays.
If the league upholds Machado’s suspension, which is highly likely, Machado will miss the tomorrow’s home game against Boston as well as three of the four games in the home series against the division-leading Blue Jays.
Photo Credit: TheShadowLeague.com
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