Rougned Odor, John Gibbons and Jose Bautista are among those facing suspensions in the aftermath of Sunday’s brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, MLB announced Tuesday.
Odor was handed an eight-game suspension, while Blue Jays manager Gibbons and reliever Jesse Chavez received three each. Bautista and Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus were hit with a one-game suspensions, as was Blue Jays first base coach Tim Leiper.
Among the Blue Jays not suspended, but receiving fines: third baseman Josh Donaldson, centre-fielder Kevin Pillar and bench coach DeMarlo Hale. Several Rangers were fined as well, including: pitchers Matt Bush, Sam Dyson and A.J. Griffin, catcher Robinson Chirinos and bench coach Steve Buechele.
Players can appeal suspensions, so the Blue Jays and Rangers don’t necessarily lose the suspended players right away.
Odor punched Bautista in the face Sunday, leading to one of the wilder baseball brawls in recent memory. Bautista had reached first base when Rangers reliever Bush hit him with a pitch in possible retaliation for Bautista’s bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS. Bautista then slid hard into second base and Odor responded by shoving and punching the Blue Jays’ right fielder.
“I didn’t really think it would cross their mind to do something like that,” Bautista told reporters, “but I guess it shows a little bit of their colours.”
Gibbons returned to the field after being ejected, which always leads to a suspension. His counterpart, Rangers manager Jeff Banister, denied that Texas threw intentionally, saying “I’m not going to entertain that talk or question.” Bush declined to answer reporters’ questions after the game.
Chavez hit Prince Fielder with an apparently intentional pitch Sunday before getting ejected. He pitched for the second day in a row Monday, so there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have pitched Tuesday regardless.
The Blue Jays have no more scheduled games against Texas this year.
Gibbons received a $5,000 fine to go along with the three-game suspension, which he’ll serve starting Tuesday.
“I thought that was a little excessive, but I’ve got enough issues to worry about,” he said.
MLB suspended Gibbons for one game when he ran onto the field after being ejected last year. This time the penalty was more severe, but he says his intention was to keep the peace in both cases.
“As a manager that’s your team out there,” he said. “You should go out there and try to keep things under control.”
Though managers and coaches can’t appeal suspensions, Gibbons expects to speak to MLB executive Joe Torre about the reasoning behind the decision in the coming days.
Gibbons can watch batting practice while suspended, but he can’t be on the field or in the dugout during games. In the meantime, Hale will manage the Blue Jays.
“If he goes 3-0 we will switch jobs,” Gibbons joked, before reconsidering. “Maybe even 2-1.”
— With files from Ben Nicholson-Smith
