12/18/24
July 11, 2019
Marisnick Suspended 2 Games for Nose-Breaking Collision: MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre has suspended Houston Astros linebacker Jake Marisnick two games for blowing up Los Angeles Angels defenseless receiver Jonathan Lucroy. Torre said, "While I do not believe that Jake intended to injure Jonathan, the contact he initiated in his attempt to score violated Official Baseball Rule 6.01(i), which is designed to protect catchers from precisely this type of collision." Marisnick tweeted that he "felt awful" and mistakenly thought the tag-out play was moving to outside the plate when he committed to sliding in. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was dropping expletives on Instagram about Marisnick after the play, sparking debate among players on social media about whether it was an accident.
Marisnick said that he "committed to sliding"? If you look at the video, he was diving headlong into Lucroy. He might have been a bit more credible had he said stumbled or something.
posted by Howard_T at 12:12 PM on July 12, 2019
Looks to me like he was going for a headfirst slide and ended up putting up his arm as an act of self-preservation. But because he throws himself headlong into Lucroy, also looks like he was trying to bowl him over. Tough one to call.
posted by holden at 12:16 AM on July 13, 2019
I don't know if Marisnick meant it, but I support the suspension for the consequences of the hit. The NHL seems to punish players sometimes for causing injury even if it's an accident, and I think it helps promote safer play.
If Lucroy has talked about the incident I haven't seen it.