Cleveland Indians pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is being suspended for five games for plunking former teammate Troy Tulowitzki during Sunday's Cactus League action between the Indians and Rockies. The allegations are that Jimenez purposely threw at Tulowitzki, who made some negative comments about Jimenez after Jimenez was dealt to the Indians last summer.
Indians' head coach Manny Acta is not happy with the decision by Bud Selig to levy such a harsh punishment and says Jimenez will appeal:
Acta said Jimenez would appeal the suspension and was still scheduled to make his first start of the season on Saturday against the Blue Jays. Acta said he was informed of the league's decision early on Monday.
"It's disappointing, but I'm not surprised," Acta said. "I'm just very disappointed at their inconsistency on how they make their decisions."
Acta cited a June 10 episode at Yankee Stadium, where Indians pitcher Roberto Hernandez (formerly Fausto Carmona) hit Mark Teixeira with a pitch in the second inning after giving up a home run to Curtis Granderson. The benches emptied after that errant offering, but Hernandez only received a $750 fine. [...]"I thought it was worse than this situation," Acta said of the incident involving Hernandez. "Both dugouts knew they were thrown at. I raised a stink about it, but I don't know. Maybe they don't get [SportsTime Ohio] over there or whatever. I'm very disappointed at the inconsistency of their decision making."
Jimenez also doesn't understand the suspension, saying that hit by pitches happen all the time in baseball and he can't control what people say. He has been unapologetic about what ensued and insists the pitch simply got away from him, even though the circumstances seem all too coincidental. Also, the fact that Jimenez dropped his glove and came charging off the mound immediately after Tulowitzki made the slightest movement toward the mound probably did not work in Jimenez's favor.
For more on the Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe. For more Indians Spring Training news, follow SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, head to Baseball Nation.