Suspension - Baseball Wiretap

Major League Baseball suspended Detroit Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez five games and manager A.J. Hinch one game Wednesday following Tuesday's bench-clearing incident in which Valdez hit Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story with a 94.4 mph fastball. Both were also fined undisclosed amounts.

Valdez's ban, reduced from an initial six games, equates to one missed rotation start and begins Wednesday against Boston. Hinch, ineligible to appeal under MLB rules for managers, also sits out Wednesday's game.

"Generally when you have an event like last night where there's a disruption of play and there's a guy kicked out of the game for what is deemed throwing at somebody, that doesn't come for free," Hinch said Wednesday.

The pitch came immediately after back-to-back home runs by Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu extended Boston's lead to 10-2. Notably, the fastball was Valdez's first four-seam offering since August 3 of last season, a detail MLB likely factored into its ruling. Both benches and bullpens emptied but no physical contact occurred.

The suspension compounds an already damaged Detroit rotation. Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Justin Verlander all remain on the injured list with elbow, hamstring and hip injuries respectively.

The incident also carries historical context. Last season, while pitching for Houston, Valdez hit Boston's Ceddanne Rafaela with a 95.5 mph four-seam fastball on a 3-1 count while trailing 6-1. In a separate September incident, he denied intentionally hitting his own catcher, Cesar Salazar, two pitches after surrendering a grand slam to the New York Yankees.

Valdez maintained after Tuesday's ejection that the Story plunking was accidental and that "there shouldn't be a suspension in that situation." Hinch publicly declined to defend his pitcher following the game.

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Jurickson Profar is facing a 162-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug for the second time in the past year, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Profar, 33, is the sixth player to receive a 162-game ban for PED use since Major League Baseball increased the penalty for two-time offenders to a full season in 2014. He will forfeit the entirety of his $15 million salary and will be ineligible for the postseason. Profar also will be ineligible for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, where he was set to represent the Netherlands, whose team includes players from his native Curacao.

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman's one-game suspension was dropped by Major League Baseball on Friday, and he instead will pay a fine for his role in a benches-clearing incident at Colorado on Sept. 2.

The Giants made the announcement ahead of Friday's opener in a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, saying an agreement with the Commissioner's Office had been reached.

Willson Contreras has received a six-game suspension plus an undisclosed fine for his tirade during Monday's 7-6 win by the St. Louis Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Contreras threw a bat that mistakenly hit Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown and tossed bubble gum on the field after he was ejected. The incident occurred after a called third strike in the seventh inning.

Contreras will appeal the suspension.

"Apparently, he heard something [he thought] I said. I did not say that," Contreras said.

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Dennis Santana will serve a three-game suspension, reduced from four, for an altercation with a fan during a game at the Detroit Tigers on June 19.

The suspension went into immediate effect, beginning Sunday with the finale of a three-game home series against the New York Mets. Santana will also sit against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday and Tuesday before being eligible to return in the finale of that series Wednesday.

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Dennis Santana received a four-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his "aggressive conduct toward a fan" during the second game of a doubleheader Thursday against the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball announced Friday.

Santana appealed the suspension and is eligible to play while the incident is being reviewed. He did not pitch in Friday's 6-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.

San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount Friday for intentionally hitting Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a pitch during the NL West rivals' contentious meeting Thursday night.

Suarez will appeal the suspension, keeping him eligible to play for San Diego on Friday night against Kansas City.

Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also received one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines for their roles in the brouhaha that occurred in both halves of the ninth inning during the Padres' 5-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado has been suspended 80 games without pay for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy.

The hard-throwing left-hander tested positive for exogenous testosterone, which is a performance-enhancing substance, MLB said in its statement Sunday.

The suspension is effective immediately. By rule, Alvarado will also be ineligible for the postseason this year.

Major League Baseball issued a one-game suspension to Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham for what it described as "inappropriate actions towards fans" in a game at Angel Stadium earlier this week.

The suspension was to be served during Friday's road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Pham has appealed. His suspension will be on hold while the appeal process plays out.

Washington Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez has been suspended three games for intentionally throwing at Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen during Wednesday's game.

Major League Baseball announced the suspension Thursday and said Lopez has filed an appeal, meaning he will be eligible for Washington's series finale in Pittsburgh.