On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced suspensions for four players involved in Tuesday’s bench-clearing incident between the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals.
Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras and Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli both received seven-game suspensions for sparking the incident. Sox utility man Nate Eaton received a three-game suspension for his tussle with Nats right-hander MIles Mikolas, who was suspended for five games.
Why such a harsh suspension for Contreras? According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the seven-game ban is due to the veteran slugger throwing his helmet in the skirmish and also “violating the league’s social media policy by posting on Instagram during an in-progress game.” After the incident, Contreras responded to a fan’s insulting Instagram comment with, “Come meet me at Fenway.”
Cavalli’s seven-game suspension comes after he instigated the altercation by yelling “Sit down, boy!” after striking Contreras out.
Contreras’ absence comes at a terrible time for a Red Sox club that lost two of three to Washington and is six games back in the American League Wild Card race. He has by far been Boston’s best hitter all season, leading the team in homers (18), RBI (53), and OPS (.906).
The Red Sox will look to get back on track Friday when they begin a three-game series in Anaheim.
