Marlins' Urena drops appeal of suspension for throwing at Acuna
Miami Marlins right-hander Jose Urena is dropping his appeal of a six-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Atlanta Braves rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. last week, according to The Associated Press.
His suspension began on Tuesday when Miami played the Yankees. The timing of his decision means Urena will miss all of Miami's upcoming four-game series against the Braves this weekend.
Hours before Urena dropped his appeal, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said the 26-year-old won't face Atlanta this weekend in an attempt to avoid escalating the situation further.
Mattingly on not pitching Jose Urena against the #Braves this weekend:
— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport) August 21, 2018
“It seems there was no reason to open that back up...Who knows what happens — social media goes crazy, public goes crazy, announcers go crazy, then it gets out of hand. We don’t need that.”
Urena will next pitch for the Marlins on Aug. 28 in Boston, Mattingly told Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald.
Last Wednesday, Urena plunked Acuna to open the Marlins-Braves contest, sparking a bench-clearing brawl between the NL East rivals. Acuna, who had hit a leadoff homer in each of his three previous games against the Marlins, left the game shortly after the brawl for what turned out to be precautionary reasons.
Mattingly denounced Urena's actions, saying the intentional hit-by-pitch was "not something that we represent or believe in as an organization."
In 25 starts for the Marlins this season, Urena owns a 4.50 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, and currently leads the league in losses (12) and hit batsmen (11). On Sunday, while still appealing the suspension, he tossed a complete game against Washington.