Bryce Harper suspension reduced upon review
By John Buhler
Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will be suspended for three days after charging the mound on San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland.
It was a very interesting Memorial Day weekend in baseball. Not only did Los Angeles of Anaheim star outfielder Mike Trout wreck his thumb against the Miami Marlins, but we saw Washington Nationals star outfielder Bryce Harper charge the mound after getting drilled by San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland.
Charging the mound after getting hit by a pitch has been part of the game of baseball for a very long time. It almost always results in a suspension because the MLB doesn’t want to condone violence for the kids’ sakes. However, a batter like Harper should have the right to go after a pitcher who purposely tries to injure him.
While Harper had been initially assessed a four-game suspension by the MLB, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that “Bryce Harper’s suspension has been reduced to three days.”
Source: Bryce Harper’s suspension has been reduced to three days.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 31, 2017
It was 100 percent the right call for the MLB to lower the suspension on Harper. Baseball should obviously realize that Harper might be the game’s lone star. He is one of the only players in the game today that can move the needle.
It’s not pace, it’s a lack of star power that isn’t helping baseball out in 2017. Outside of the select few players like Harper, who do you casually watch baseball when your local team isn’t playing? Obviously, seeing a player charging the mound and drilling a pitcher in the face isn’t a great look for baseball, but the incident has grabbed the national media’s attention.
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Add in that Harper is a serious MVP candidate for the first-place Nationals in the NL East and it would be foolish for baseball to not let its most marketable player play for the next week or so. With the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series, what other narrative can causal baseball fans get behind outside of the success, or failure, of their local team? Harper makes baseball interesting, period.