La Russa Had Some Strong Words About Mike Wright's Suspension

The White Sox had a noticeable absence on Saturday afternoon. Tony La Russa was not in the dugout. He was serving a one-game suspension. That suspension was the fallout from an incident earlier in the week when White Sox reliever Mike Wright, hit Angels star Shohei Ohtani. The entire situation was a mess. In the midst of a 9-3 blowout, Mike Wright plunked this year's MVP frontrunner in the leg with a pitch. The umpires determined that the White Sox had hit Ohtani intentionally in retaliation for two days earlier when both Luis Robert and Jose Abreu were hit by pitches. Mike Wright was ejected from the game. Tony La Russa went out to plea his case and he too was tossed. As a result, Jose Abreu was forced to play third base for the remainder of the ninth inning. Tony La Russa received a fine and an automatic suspension for Saturday's game while Wright was slapped with a three-game suspension. While Mike Wright is no world-beater, his absence would provide a big hole in the White Sox bullpen. With the playoffs knocking on the doorstep, the White Sox are trying to make sure their primer arms are as fresh as possible. That is one of the main reasons Tony La Russa opted to go with a six-man rotation. Mike Wright eats innings which is exactly what the White Sox need at this point in the season. If you need a long reliever or someone to cover you in extra innings Mike Wright is your man. His suspension puts extra stress on the rest of the bullpen. Because of this, he opted to appeal the suspension. Meanwhile, bench coach Miguel Cairo served as acting manager during the White Sox 2-1 loss to the Rangers while La Russa served his suspension. The entire situation had the Hall of Fame manager irked. “I was disappointed by the umpire’s decision,” La Russa said Saturday in Arlington. “Once that happens, this is all automatic. I just don’t think that there’s been enough information that’s really been distributed. “We’ve hit fewer batters than any team in Major League Baseball. And most importantly, if you watched how we pitched Ohtani for three days, we avoided the middle of the plate. In, away, up, down, we avoided the middle.” White Sox pitchers have only hit 47 batters all season which is by far the fewest in the MLB. The White Sox also had no reason to hit Ohtani. The pitching staff held the Japanese sensation to just two hits in 13 at-bats during the series with seven strikeouts. Wright even threw three pitches to Ohtani, before hitting them. The first pitch was fouled off by Ohtani while the next two were inside. The fourth eventually hit him. “I didn’t see the scrutiny being even,” La Russa added.

“Because it was that one pitch, we had plenty of opportunities to be upset, and we were just pitching him the same way we pitched him the whole time. But our guys, three guys get hit, one guy gets hit in the head, Abreu gets hit for the 19th time, and nobody pays attention to that. There’s an unfairness there that upsets me.”

Before his ejection La Russa made sure crew chief Bill Welke got an ear full. The Angels had hit three White Sox batters on Tuesday, including a pitch that clipped Luis Robert in the helmet and nobody seemed to care. “(Welke) felt that there was stuff flying in that first game,” La Russa said in his postgame press conference Tuesday. “It was all us getting hit. And he noticed all that, but they didn't do anything.” La Russa's displeasure carried over to the weekend. When Mike Wright decided to appeal his suspension he told the media Saturday: “I’m glad he’ll have a chance to explain it because I think that there’s a lot to explain.”