Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Aroldis Chapman was suspended two games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, three days after he was ejected from a game against the New York Mets.
Chapman was seen arguing with home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday after the veteran reliever allowed a two-run double to Harrison Bader in a 3-3 game. Bader's hit made the difference in the Mets' 6-3 win over the Pirates at Citi Field.
It's unclear what Chapman said to prompt the ejection, but it came swiftly:
Monday's loss came two days after Chapman blew a save in the seventh inning of a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The two rocky outings followed a strong start to his first season with the Pirates, and his 15th in Major League Baseball. According to Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com,
In four innings through his first seven appearances, the lefty didn't allow a run or a hit while striking out nine against three walks and holding hitters to a .167 batting average. In his past two outings, Chapman gave up four runs (three earned) on two hits with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two), as opponents batted .400 with a 1.225 OPS against him.
Chapman finished last season with the World Series champion Texas Rangers after a midseason trade. The left-hander then signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Pirates in January as a free agent. In nine appearances to begin the season, he is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA.
Chapman can appeal his suspension and would be eligible to play in the meantime if he does. The Pirates did not have a game scheduled for Thursday. Friday, they will host the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park.
If upheld, the suspension will be the second — and not nearly the longest — of Chapman's long MLB career.
In 2016, Chapman became the first player to be penalized under the league's then-new Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy. He was banned for the first 30 games of the regular season, depriving the New York Yankees of one of the game's premier closers.
According to a police report, Chapman's girlfriend told police in Davie, Florida that he pushed and choked her in a domestic incident in Oct. 2015. When the report became public two months later, a proposed trade that would have sent Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds to the Los Angeles Dodgers was nixed. Chapman was subsequently traded to the Yankees.
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J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers ... Read more
