MLB disciplined Joe Kelly more than any Astros players for their cheating scandal

Joe Kelly’s suspension was worse than any Astros player received for cheating.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly got hit with an eight-game suspension for escalating tensions with the Houston Astros in a bench-clearing incident on Tuesday night.

Ironically enough, that suspension is more than any Astros player received for the cheating scandal that rocked MLB in 2019.

In the bottom of the sixth inning on Tuesday, Kelly beamed Alex Bregman of the Astros with a wild pitch at the plate. After he tried to throw him out at first, things got heated, with Bregman hurling F-bombs back at Kelly.

After Kelly threw at Carlos Correa, tensions were already running high. Kelly wound up striking Correa out to end the inning, and as he started talking smack and made a face walking to the dugout, the benches cleared for the Dodgers and the Astros.

Joe Kelly’s punishment was worse than anyone on the Astros

The result of Kelly’s efforts to go above and beyond in antagonizing the Astros was an eight-game suspension from MLB. That’s significant enough during a shortened 60-game season, but it’s even more prominent when one remembers the penalties Houston received for the cheating scandal that’s made them a target for pitchers all season long now.

While the organization itself was punished for the sign-stealing scandal, no actual Astros players were punished or suspended. They received immunity because they fully cooperated with MLB’s investigation. Houston was merely fined $5 million (the maximum amount allowed by MLB rules), lost its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 and had to suspend general manager Jeff Luhnow and field manager A.J. Hinch for the entire 2020 campaign.

Nobody’s saying throwing 90 mph fastballs at anybody is right, but given that not a single one of them was penalized for the part they played in that cheating scandal, it’s pretty comical that Kelly’s punishment for doling out Astros punishment is worse than anything Houston’s players got.