MLB lays down the hammer on Mets with suspensions from Rhys Hoskins drama

Rhys Hoskins was already a player New York Mets fans couldn't stand from his days with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was greeted by boos from the crowd on Opening Day before he even made his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mets fans' hatred of the new Brewers first baseman reached new heights in the season opener when Hoskins slid later than he should have into second base in an effort to break up a double play. Jeff McNeil was not happy, but the slide was ruled legal. Benches cleared as McNeil and Hoskins jawed at each other, but nothing came of it.

Despite the legal ruling and the rather uneventful bases-clearing incident, the Mets were clearly not over what had transpired. They didn't do it immeidately, but Mets reliever Yohan Ramirez threw a pitch behind Hoskins and was subsequently ejected from the game. Ramirez and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said it wasn't on purpose, but the umpires and MLB believed otherwise.

Not only was Ramirez thrown out of Saturday's game, but suspensions were dolled out to both the Mets reliever and manager as a consequence for throwing behind Hoskins.

Mets reliever and manager suspended after throwing at Rhys Hoskins

Hoskins said it best. Big leaguers simply don't miss by eight feet. Ramirez missing as badly as he did with Hoskins at the plate told the league all they needed to know. it almost certainly was on purpose. If not, he shouldn't be in the majors, simple as that.

With the league determining that Ramirez threw at Hoskins intentionally, he was suspended for three games. It might sound harsh since he didn't hit Hoskins, but throwing at someone intentionally isn't okay, especially when the pitch was pretty high.

Ramirez elected to appeal the suspension and wound up pitching in Sunday's game. He threw three innings in relief and delivered 41 pitches. There's a good chance that since Ramirez wouldn't be available for a couple of days (at least) anyway, he'll drop the appeal after Sunday's game. Not exactly the spirit of the rule, but it's a loophole many players take.

Knowing that Ramirez got suspended should put an end to any argument from Mets fans suggesting that Luis Severino, the starter on Saturday's game, should've thrown at Hoskins. Severino would've been suspended, and that would've been a much bigger loss than arguably the worst reliever on the staff.

Since Mendoza was only suspended for one game, he elected to just miss Sunday's series finale against Milwaukee. He'll be back in the dugout when the Mets host the Tigers on Monday night.

The Mets and Brewers won't face off until the last series of the season. It'll be interesting to see how that shakes up if Ramirez and Hoskins are both with their respective teams.