5-game suspensions for Sale, Samardzja
In the aftermath of Thursday night's brawl against the Kansas City Royals, the White Sox did receive some bad news.
According to general manager Rick Hahn, relief pitcher Matt Albers has a fractured finger on his right hand and will be sidelined for at least 15 days.
Friday night's game against the Royals was suspended after 8 innings due to rain with the score tied at 2 and Saturday afternoon's game was rained out, so the Sox will have a new reliever Sunday when the suspended game resumes followed by the regularly scheduled matchup.
As for suspensions, Major-League Baseball announced its decision Saturday and the news was relatively good for the White Sox.
Starting pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were each slapped with five-game suspensions and undisclosed fines. Sox catcher Tyler Flowers was also fined.
Hahn said Sale and Samardzija are going to appeal.
“Both are scheduled to make their next starts in Baltimore,” Hahn said of the Sox' three-game series against the Orioles that opens on Monday. “We'll work with them and their representatives and the players' association in the coming days to try to figure out the best way to handle the process going forward. Obviously, they will have their rights protected. They could get to the point of stating their cases and having it adjudicated.”
Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura was suspended seven games, Edinson Volquez was suspended five games and Lorenzo Cain and Kelvin Herrera were each suspended two games.
It could have been worse for the White Sox.
Sale attempted to get into the Royals' clubhouse to confront Ventura after being ejected from Thursday night's game.
Former Sox teammate Alex Rios, who now plays for Kansas City and is on the disabled list with a broken hand, intercepted Sale and helped defuse the situation.
Hahn talked to his ace starter about the incident.
“We had a good conversation,” Hahn said. “It was a private conversation and we spoke both (Friday) as well as this morning and certainly understand where Chris was coming from in terms of the emotion involved in the moment and what he was hoping to accomplish, and at the same time realizing that perhaps there was a better way to handle these things going forward.”
Samardzija was the most active participant in the brawl as he continually tried getting at Cain. At one point during the melee, Volquez threw a wild punch at Samardzija that failed to connect.
Albers is hurt, but the White Sox' top two starters — Sale and Samardzija — were lucky to come out of the brawl in good health.
“In terms of the next day and expressing the fact that they wish they had handled things a little bit differently, I think everybody had some elements of their behavior over the course of that incident on both sides that they wish they had handled differently,” Hahn said. “I respect the fact that our players stood up and took responsibility for their actions and expressed remorse over those things that they wish had been handled better. But it is something that happens from time to time as part of the game. I do think that from a team unity standpoint there are some positives at least to take away from it. I certainly wish the whole thing had not happened.”
Hahn acknowledged Sale and Samardzija need to tone down the aggressiveness a bit, but he appreciates their makeup.
“Part of what makes these guys good is the competitive fire,” the White Sox' GM said. “Part of what makes a guy a front-end starter is that fight, that passion and the desire to excel between the lines. Certainly that's part of their makeup and sometimes that carries over outside of the lines. As they continue in their big-league careers and mature, they realize how to ideally keep that between the lines.”