Urena-Acuna incident stirs discussion on 'plunking' in baseball

Marlins righty suspended for six games; Acuna OK

Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) is tended to by a member of the training staff as Ozzie Albies talks to him after Acuna was hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) is tended to by a member of the training staff as Ozzie Albies talks to him after Acuna was hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
photo Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker argues with the umpiring crew after Ronald Acuna Jr was hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday , Aug. 15, 2018 in Atlanta. Urena was ejected. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

NEW YORK - New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge saw the footage of Jose Urena's pitch hitting Ronald Acuna Jr. and felt Acuna's pain.

Judge, who hit 52 home runs on his way to American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2017, knows that with so many big hits comes a risk some disgruntled pitcher may try burying a fastball in your ribs.

"Oh yeah, it's happened before," Judge said.

Throwing at a batter for hitting home runs? That's what many think Urena did, including New York Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez, with the former New York Mets first baseman defending the Miami Marlins right-hander's alleged plunking of the Atlanta Braves' breakout rookie.

photo Miami Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto (11) stands between pitcher Jose Urena (62) and Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker (43) as the dugouts empty after Urena hit Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. with a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018m in Atlanta. Marlins' Derek Dietrich (32) and Braves' Ender Inciarte argue at right. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Mostly, though, players and coaches around the game seem to want nothing to do with this murky unwritten rule.

Urena sparked a benches-clearing fracas in Atlanta when he drilled Acuna in the elbow with the first pitch of Wednesday's game at SunTrust Park. Acuna had homered leading off three consecutive games and gone deep four times in the first three games of the series against the Marlins, all wins for the Braves, who went on to complete the sweep with a 5-2 victory.

Acuna had a CT scan that revealed his elbow was normal, and X-rays also were negative. He was back in Atlanta's lineup Thursday night against the Colorado Rockies.

Urena, who has hit 11 batters this season - tied for the National League lead as of Wednesday night - claimed he was just pitching Acuna inside and missed his spot with a "bad pitch." He was suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount Thursday.

The Braves and the officiating crew working the game believed Urena intended to hit Acuna. Freddie Freeman, the Braves' veteran first baseman, said it "was just completely classless on Jose Urena's part," and manager Brian Snitker was near the front of a line of Atlanta players charging out of the dugout toward the mound.

"I'm not sure I've ever felt like that in a baseball uniform," Snitker said Wednesday night.

At least one prominent baseball voice believed Urena would be right to intentionally drill Acuna, though. Hernandez, the 1979 NL co-MVP, said during the Mets broadcast Wednesday night that in this case, Urena did what was necessary

"They're killing you," Hernandez said. "You lost three games. He's hit three home runs. You've got to hit him. I'm sorry, people aren't going to like that. You know, you've got to hit him, knock him down."

The Braves didn't take kindly to Hernandez's word. Atlanta reliever Peter Moylan tweeted Hernandez was a "clown," and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones tweeted the comments were "waaay off base!"

"So by this way of thinking, Jacob deGrom should get drilled cuz he's the hottest pitcher on the planet? NO!" Jones wrote.

Players and coaches around the majors were asked about intentional plunkings Thursday, and based on that, Hernandez's opinion was clearly in the minority.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Urena's pitch "seemed pretty blatant to me."

"It had a bad look to it," he said.

Tampa Bay Rays veteran Kevin Kiermaier thinks so-called plunkings have a time and a place. He recalled being a rookie when the Rays unintentionally hit Yankees star Derek Jeter twice in the same game. Kiermaier was the first batter up for Tampa Bay the next inning.

"I knew I was going to get thrown at," Kiermaier said. "Guy ended up missing. I had no problem with it. He got thrown out, whatever."

However, Kiermaier also suspects at least one pitcher has thrown at him intentionally because the speedy center fielder tried to bunt for a hit in the first inning of a game, and that experience infuriated him. Kiermaier doesn't want any part of pitchers throwing at him for just playing the game. He called Urena's pitch "classless."

"You're hitting good, and they want to hit you to hit you, then I've got a problem with that," Kiermaier said.

Retired infielder Michael Young, a seven-time All-Star who last played five years ago, wrote on Twitter that "you don't drill people for doing their jobs" and "that's not old school." He also said the concept of brushback pitches - throwing a fastball inside to scare a batter off the plate and make him uncomfortable - doesn't work against MLB hitters.

"You can't make a good hitter uncomfortable," Young said. "He's been there, done that. He's laughing in his head because your heaters inside are simply teeing him up with a 2-0 count. Then he's going to torch you."

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