Willson Contreras has been hit 7 times in his the last 14 games against the Brewers, including three times already this season, and he was fined by the league when he got ticked off about it.
Now, it’s Contreras’s manager and teammate who get punished:
MLB has suspended Cubs reliever Ryan Tepera for 3 games & fined him for intentionally throwing at Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff on Tues.
Manager David Ross also received 1-game suspension & undisclosed fine for it. Ross will serve his suspension Friday.
Tepera has appealed.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) April 15, 2021
Tepera threw behind Woodruff a couple games ago in response to Contreras getting hit up and in for a third time by the Brewers this season. It had become an unfortunately necessary message. Some punishment was always coming for Tepera, and I understand that you can’t entirely point to the fact that the pitch was way behind and way down (though it matters to me that it was). It was intentional. Punishment is warranted – you kind of accept it as a price for doing what you think is right and defending Contreras. But this is too much.
Remember when Aroldis Chapman threw at Mike Brosseau’s head with a 101 mph fastball because there was beef between the teams? He got a three game suspension. Reduced to two. He threw at the guy’s head.
And Ross gets suspended and fined because … why? Because he said it was BS that Contreras keeps getting hit and the Brewers either cannot or will not control their pitches up and in? Give me a break. What was happening needed to stop, and nothing Contreras said was going to change it (he got fined for trying).
If you missed what happened, here was the Tepera pitch and aftermath:
Tepera throws behind Brandon Woodruff pic.twitter.com/TBs9w1ZLyE
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) April 14, 2021
And if you missed what set it all up (and Willson’s dinger response), here you go:
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/xUIrMPS2Pt
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 14, 2021