Detroit Tigers News

Rick Porcello suspension: Tigers starter accepts punishment

Justice is done.

By Kurt Mensching@KurtJustKurt Jul 11, 2013, 11:56am EDT

Rick Porcello dropped the appeal of his suspension Thursday, making way for the six-game (possibly five) banishment to begin. This will cost the Tigers' starter exactly zero appearances.

With four games before the All-Star Break and having just made a start, Porcello will essentially get an extended vacation. He would not have made another start before the break, and he would not have made a start immediately after the break either. There may be a financial component that comes along with being suspended, but otherwise, the punishment had no teeth at all.

Porcello told reporters this morning (via Matthew B. Mowery): "I still disagree with the suspension. I'll leave it at that," Porcello said, but admitted, "Yeah, it worked out fine."

Say what you will about the suspension being toothless -- MLive's Chris Iott argues the loophole that allows Porcello to avoid missing any games should be closed -- justice wins out in this case. Porcello was suspended for hitting a batter a day after his manager made a few comments insinuating the Tigers would get revenge on the Rays after Fernando Rodney buzzed Miguel Cabrera's head. Porcello dinged Ben Zobrist in the first inning of that game, spurring umpire Vic Carapazza to warn both benches. Porcello was allowed to stay in the game, allowing three runs on eight hits in six innings. He took the loss. That Porcello was suspended by the MLB's front office came as a surprise to pretty much everyone. Had Leyland kept his mouth shut, it's unlikely any punishment at all would have occurred.

So, in this case, justice is done. A suspension that shouldn't happen in the first place has no teeth. Huzzah.