Kansas City Royals: Should Kelvin Herrera Be Punished

By Leigh Oleszczak | Apr 20, 2015

The Kansas City Royals had an interesting three-game series with the Oakland Athletics over the weekend. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about the drama that ensued when Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie slid hard into second base, and plowing into Alcides Escobar, injuring him.

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On Sunday, Kelvin Herrera had the final punch when he threw a 100 MPH fastball behind Lawrie.

Herrera’s retaliation wasn’t the first for the Royals, but it more than likely will not bode well for the 25-year old reliever.

While Lawrie started the feud, Yordano Ventura struck next when he hit Lawrie with a 98 MPH pitch on Saturday night after giving up a three-run home run. Ventura was ejected and Royals fans assumed all was square then.

Nope.

Oakland starting pitcher Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain in the foot in the first inning with two outs on Sunday’s match up at the K. Say what you want, but to me, that looked intentional. Batters get hit, sure, but the fact that Kazmir already had two outs in the inning, and managed to have control for the rest of the game screams to me that he meant to hit Cain.

The umpires inexplicably did not eject Kazmir, but tossed KC Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland and manager Ned Yost when they took umbrage with the lack off action by the umpiring crew.

Herrera evened the score by whiffing a 100 MPH behind Lawrie in the eighth inning. It wasn’t a smart decision for Herrera, as he was immediately ejected from the game, but he was sticking up for his team, and I applaud him for that.

No, I don’t condone trying to injure someone, but the ball wasn’t anywhere near Lawrie. The people who say Herrera should be tried for murder are being ridiculous. Herrera’s message was “Stop messing with my boys”.

Where Herrera will get slammed by MLB, however, is when he pointed to his head. Some say the message was to Lawrie and meant “Next time it’ll be your head”. If that’s what he was saying, definitely not okay.

What happens next for Herrera though? Is there a chance for the first H of HDH to be suspended? Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised. Yordano Ventura could possibly face a suspension as well.

My take on it is that Kelvin Herrera probably should be and likely will be suspended. While he didn’t hit Lawrie with that pitch, the “Next time it’s coming for your head” signal was unnecessary.

You got your message sent, you got ejected, just leave the field.

Now Kelvin Herrera will put the Kansas City Royals in a tough spot. Greg Holland was put on the DL on Saturday, which leaves Herrera and Wade Davis.

Davis will take the closing duties, which he did beautifully on Sunday, but with Herrera possibly gone, it’ll be time for guys like Ryan Madson and Chris Young to step up.

In this video by 120 Sports, the hosts completely ignore the fact Kazmir and the A’s wouldn’t let this be, and went after Cain earlier in the game.

Next: Kansas City Royals: No Longer Lovable Losers

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