White Sox pitcher Jimmy Cordero suspended for beaning Willson Contreras

Jimmy Cordero threw at Willson Contreras, so he probably had it coming

Contreras dared to celebrate a home run (gasps) with a savage bat flip, and Cordero didn’t appreciate him rubbing that blast in his face. The catcher riled up the Cubs’ cross-town rivals enough to invoke a response, and Cordero and manager Rick Renteria are now paying the price for that.

“I knew it was coming,” Contreras said after the game. “I have no regrets, zero regrets. Once they hit me, I don’t think that’s the smartest thing to do. He got thrown out. And who knows if he’s going to get suspended?”

That’s a fair assessment. Sadly, professional baseball players are used to being thrown at when they break MLB’s unwritten rules. It’s silly, but worth it in many circumstances.

Renteria and David Ross had different perceptions of Contreras’ bat flip

Renteria tried to cover for his pitcher postgame, claiming the ball got away from him. MLB knew better, and dropped the hammer on both the White Sox pitcher and their manager.

“The ball got away from him,” Renteria said of Cordero’s pitch. “We couldn’t convince him [the umpire] of that. … There was no warning. They just gathered and ejected him.”

Yeah, I don’t buy it. MLB didn’t either, which explains the three-game punishment for Cordero, and the one-game ban for Renteria. Cubs manager David Ross stressed that the bat flip wasn’t meant to disrespect the White Sox, but per usual the team on the receiving end of the bat flip decided to take it personally.

“It wasn’t to disrespect the other group,” he said. “It was because we’ve been struggling offensively and he brought some swagger. He brought some edge. I loved every second of it.”

With both of these teams heading into the playoffs, they’ll happily put the event behind them.