Major League Baseball Came Down Hard On Chase Utley With A Two-Game Suspension

It’s official: Chase Utley has been suspended for the illegal slide that broke Mets infielder Ruben Tejada’s right leg during the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NLDS. Utley will miss games 3 and 4 of the series, both of which will be played on the Mets’ home turf of Citi Field.

The ruling officially came down from the MLB’s Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre. According to Torre, while he believed that Utley’s intent was not to injure Tejada, “I believe his slide was in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a)(13), which is designated to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base.”

Torre also said that the League and the Players Association has had discussions on how to prevent this type of play from occurring, and mentioned that the two sides will discuss potential solutions during the offseason. Here is the entire statement from Major League Baseball:

This decision should appease some of the people who were furious over Utley’s decision to take Tejada out right after the play occurred. If Utley chooses to, he is allowed to appeal the decision, which means he would be able to play until his appeal is processed.

*UPDATE: You could see this coming.