The league has settled with Atlanta Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez after Tuesday's melee, resulting in a five-game suspension. This report came courtesy of AJC's Chad Bishop, with Lopez immediately starting his suspension, which will cause the starter to miss only one game he could potentially start. Atlanta could opt to plug Grant Holmes in on normal rest with Thursday's scheduled off day. Regardless of the answer, there should be no suspension for Lopez, who was reacting to an unfortunate situation.
Opting to suspend Lopez is the league standard, with the starter leaving the mound being cited as the reasoning. However, this ignores the fact that it was Jorge Soler staring out at the mound that incited the incident, and Lopez was acting in self-defense, backing up and throwing punches in return to Soler's charge. While the suspension is understandable for a league that wants to discourage fighting, it ignores the context of what happened.
Lopez had no reason to attempt to hit Soler with the game hanging in the balance. There was no evidence that Lopez was trying to hit the slugger, and his response to Soler was more than justified, as the starter stood his ground and defended himself when the fight broke out.
League Clearly Got it Wrong Suspending Braves' Starter Reynaldo Lopez
With that said, it is easy to see the league's perspective in wanting to suspend all involved and send a strong message to all other teams. While benches will inevitably clear, it typically doesn't escalate to this level, amounting to a huddle in the infield with both sides exchanging words and shoves, sizing each other up for a fight that never transpires. This was a very different scene with Soler charging the mound and both sides failing to get it under control until a flurry of punches had been thrown by both players.
Still, it wasn't Lopez who incited the fight, and the league can hardly expect players to run away or stand there and take punishment. Lopez did what any self-respecting pitcher should and was up for the moment. Choosing to punish this is a mistake that ignores context and unfairly assumes the Atlanta starter intended to hit Soler.
For the Braves, it is fortunate that Soler is a World Series hero and a beloved figure in Atlanta. It is easy to imagine that any other player who chose this path would quickly be villainized and become a hated figure for the franchise. Instead, Soler continues to garner respect and admiration for what he meant to the city. Even if it is clear that the outfielder was in the wrong in this situation, it set Lopez up for what is an undeserved suspension.