MLB bails out Victor Robles, Mariners with surprising suspension decision

After throwing his bat at a pitcher while on a minor league rehab assignment, Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles moved to appeal the 10-game suspension that Major League Baseball levied as a punishment.

It worked, as the Mariners announced Friday that Robles' suspension has been reduced to seven games. He'll begin serving it today, making him eligible to return on September 6.

It's still a hefty suspension that will leave the Mariners without one of their best energy sources for the bulk of a nine-game road trip. And as Mariners fans know from the last road trip, the last thing this team needs on the road is any kind of disadvantage.

Mariners dodge a bullet with MLB's Victor Robles reversal

For Robles' part, though, it feels like he's gone from getting off light to getting off even lighter.

For anyone who needs a refresher, the incident in question occurred on August 17 in the third inning of a Triple-A contest between the Tacoma Rainiers and the Las Vegas Aviators. Joey Estes came up and in with a pitch that appeared to (but apparently didn't) hit Robles, prompting the nine-year veteran to chuck his bat in Estes' direction.

There was never an easy answer for what kind of suspension Robles deserved, but it was surely somewhere between 50 games (i.e., Delmon Young throwing his bat at an umpire) and five games (i.e., Manny Machado throwing his bat down the third base line). Potentially, it could have been long enough to be season-ending.

Not so much, as it turned out when MLB initially hit Robles with a 10-game ban. And now, he's only going to miss a week's worth of games.

We can only speculate as to why MLB reduced Robles' suspension, though it probably helped that he was apologetic after the fact. It didn't hurt that he explained his mindset, in that several other HBPs combined with a long injury absence and the recent passing of his mother all contributed to him losing control.

All the same, what ESPN's Jeff Passan told Brock and Salk still rings true: “Clearly he’s been going through a lot. All of us go through a lot and we don’t throw things at other people. The suspension, I fear, will be long and it will be entirely justified.”

For the Mariners, the bad news in the meantime is that they will have to play a man down while Robles is serving his suspension. Yet the timing is certainly fortuitous, as they will only have to play with 25 men for three games before rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Monday. They can then fill Robles' spot, and look to welcome him back next Saturday.

Ultimately, the lesson here isn't a particularly inspiring one. It's basically that throwing bats at people is bad, but that you can still get away with a slap on the wrist if you do it.