Do Ejections Adequately Punish Pitchers Who Throw at Opposing Batters?

In the seventh inning of Saturday’s game between the Brewers and the Mets, Mets pitcher Yohan Ramírez “accidentally” threw a neck-high fastball behind Rhys Hoskins, who was at the center of Friday’s fracas between the teams and with whom the Mets have had issues for years. Hoskins was 3-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBIs for the game when he came to bat and found himself ducking.

Ramírez said it was an accident after the game. But the umpires didn’t see it that way during the heat of the action. They were pretty sure it was intentional; so was everyone watching the game. They ejected Ramírez from the game.

Was this justice for the Brewers? Well, they got to face a new pitcher and got ball one called on the pitch, because it was just a bit inside. New hurler Jorge López got to take as long as he needed to warm up. The team, perhaps, made a few extra beer sales as the fans went and got a cold one during those warm-up pitches. There may be additional fines or suspensions against Ramírez; but those will likely be reduced by appeal, and all the discipline will happen in a week or more, when the Mets might be playing the Brewers’ division rivals. They play the Reds next week, for instance.

The Brewers get no justice. The Reds could get to face the Mets during any resulting suspension. This is like your neighbors chopping down a tree and it falling on your house. You win a lawsuit for damages; but the judge tells the neighbor to pay your other neighbor—the one whose dog keeps relieving himself on your lawn.

There is no justice here for the Brewers, and really not much deterrent against the Mets.  If Major League Baseball really wants to discourage bean balls, the penalty needs to be immediate and impactful in the game in which the incident occurred.

At very least, an ejection for throwing at a batter should also include one base being awarded to the batter. If the pitcher is ejected for throwing at a batter and hits him, the batter should be awarded second base: first base for getting hit, and second base for the ejection. If the pitcher throws at a batter and misses, the batter should be awarded first base. If it is ball four, the batter should be awarded first base for the walk and second base for the ejection. Any runners on base get to move up one base as well.

Will this entirely stop pitchers from throwing at batters? Maybe not by itself. Suspensions could be made longer. Fines could be greater. But at least, if there is an immediate one-base penalty, the team that was getting thrown at gets some real value for pain and suffering.

Will MLB change this rule to dole out an immediate penalty for throwing at a batter? Probably not. Bean balls add excitement. They get fans engaged. The league may want to appear to want to stop bean balls, but they only go so far. Butts in seats and eyes on screens may weigh more heavily in the MLB court of law than making sure justice is served. Ball one isn’t justice, though, and everyone knows it. This is why retaliation happens.