Chase Utley has appealed his suspension from Major League Baseball, and that might make him a target in Game Four of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Mets.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ second baseman Chase Utley was suspended for games four and five of the NLDS against the New York Mets after the questionable slide that broke Ruben Tejada’s leg. However, Utley may not see a suspension after appealing the punishment and the Dodgers on the brink of elimination entering Game Four.
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While that may give the Dodgers their starter at the keystone for at least one more game while his appeal is heard, it may not necessarily help Utley avoid punishment being served. It just may change who hands it down.
Speaking with Nate Scott of For The Win, Mets’ Game Four starter Matt Harvey was asked point blank about potentially retaliating against Utley and he danced around the subject a bit.
"“I think the most important thing is going out and doing my job and doing what’s best for the team. For me, in my mind, that’s going out and pitching a long game and being out there as long as I can, and keeping zeros on the board,” he said. “But you know, as far as sticking up for your teammates, I think being out there and doing what’s right is exactly what I’m going to do.”"
Harvey, who went 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA, a 3.05 FIP, and a 8.9 K/9 ratio in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, has a chance to put the Mets into the National League Championship Series with a win over Los Angeles on Monday night. However, he also wants to make sure that Utley knows his actions won’t be tolerated should he step into the batter’s box on Monday.
While that may seem smart of paper, drilling into a player’s head like that when he knows he’s going to be targeted, it may also not be the smartest thing to say in public. Umpires have ears too and if they were already on alert that something may be up, they will act with a much shorter string now that Harvey’s vocalized the possibility.
For a guy with solid control like Harvey, that may make things interesting if he tries to run a pitch inside just to establish the plate. Umpires with itchy trigger fingers may say something is intentional even if it had no intent behind it. That not only removes a starter from the game but also adds a potential suspension into the mix.
So while playing the part of the Dark Knight and dishing out justice on the mound may seem like the right thing to do in the short-term, the bigger picture for the Mets may be to let the league handle this for now and let the series play things out.
The rest can be addressed in Spring Training or next season, when the long memory of baseball players can come back around and have a little less of an impact on a potential World Series run.