Jose Urena started for the Miami Marlins last night, threw one pitch, and his night was done.
Urena famously plunked Atlanta Braves phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. with a 97.5-mph fastball, and no, it wasn’t an accident.
Acuna had led off the Braves’ previous three games with homers, and had eight homers in his last eight games, including a streak of five straight with a long ball.
Yeah, wow. Kid is blazin’.
The unwritten rules, for some reason, dictate plunking him.
Urena, of course, is denying intent, as is his manager, Don Mattingly. For some reason, Mets announcer Keith Hernandez backed the beanball, before backing down and saying, OK, maybe knocking the kid out of the game was a bit much, but Urena was right to send a message.
Oh, yeah, the part about the kid getting knocked out of the game: Acuna was removed in the second inning, and was eventually sent to the hospital for a CT scan, which came back negative, though Acuna is listed as day-to-day.
(Aren’t we all?)
Acuna is an up-and-coming star at the ripe old age of 20, hitting .288/.348/.576 with a .924 OBP, 19 homers and 43 RBI in 68 games as a rookie.
And he’s currently on a tear, with eight homers, 15 runs batted in and a .471 average over his last eight games.
Which, good on him.
You don’t throw up and in on the first pitch of a game at a kid because he’s ripping the cover off the ball to send a message.
Maybe, you try to get him out? Just a thought.
Bottom line: Crap move on the part of Urena, and if this is something that the unwritten rules dictates, we need to write these stupid rules down, then outlaw them.
Column by Chris Graham
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