Five players were suspended by the Midwest League because of their actions in connection to Sunday’s benches-clearing brawl between the Dayton Dragons and the West Michigan Whitecaps.
Whitecaps reliever Eduardo Jimenez received the harshest penalty after throwing a baseball into the middle of the fight, hitting Dragons pitcher Jesse Stallings in the leg. Most reports say Jimenez was given a 30-game suspension, but Baseball America was told by a team official that the right-hander is out for 30 days, not 30 games. (The Midwest League doesn’t announce its suspensions, so reporters use team sources to get that information.)
The other suspensions were reported as five games for Whitecaps shortstop Daniel Pinero, four games for Dragons pitcher Wennington Romero, three games for Dragons outfielder Jose Siri, and one game for Whitecaps pitcher Spenser Watkins.
The brawl, which can be seen here, began after Pinero appeared to intentionally step on Siri’s leg or ankle after the Dragons outfielder stole second base. Siri immediately jumped up and went after Pinero, who was walking away from him, and both benches cleared.
Unrelated to the brawl, Whitecaps outfielder Jacob Robson also was punished by the league, getting a four-game suspension for bumping an umpire during Saturday’s contest. That game was a notable one for the Dragons, as it was the team’s 1,200th consecutive sellout at Fifth Third Field. They are the first professional sports team to reach that mark, and have owned the consecutive sellouts record (and added to it) since 2011.