Pirates receive drastic discipline from MLB over weekend Reds drama

Editor's Note: Chris Devenski's suspension has been reduced to two games, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Both Devenski and Don Kelly will miss Tuesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Devenski will be eligible to return for Thursday's finale.

Major League Baseball saw a messy, ambiguous moment at PNC Park on Saturday and turned a gray-area moment into a black-and-white punishment — one the Pittsburgh Pirates now have to absorb at the worst possible time.

What unfolded between Pirates reliever Chris Devenski and Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart never rose to the level of certainty that typically warrants suspensions, fines and a manager getting pulled from the dugout.

Yet that’s exactly how MLB chose to handle it, turning a questionable judgment call into a multi-layered punishment that now leaves the Pirates shorthanded at a time they can least afford it.

And it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s also excessive.

Let’s start with the incident itself. Devenski went inside with a sinker to Stewart to open an at-bat — a move that, in today’s game, is hardly unusual. Yes, there was some pre-pitch tension. Yes, Stewart took exception after losing his helmet. But nowhere in the sequence was there clear, undeniable evidence of intent.

Devenski himself denied it outright, explaining he was simply trying to establish the inner half against a hitter known to crowd the plate. That’s pitching, not vigilante justice.

Yet crew chief Alan Porter and his crew decided otherwise in real time, ejecting Devenski and escalating what was, at worst, a murky situation. MLB then doubled down days later, suspending Devenski for three games and Pirates manager Don Kelly for one.

That’s where this crosses the line.

MLB's punishment of Chris Devenski, Don Kelly after Reds incident feels extreme

Intent matters — or at least it’s supposed to. And if MLB is going to hand out suspensions for throwing inside, especially without a prior warning issued in-game, the league is opening a dangerous door. Pitchers are already operating in a hyper-policed environment where any misfire near a hitter can be interpreted as malicious. Now, even strategic inside pitching risks retroactive discipline.

For the Pirates, the consequences are tangible. Through 35 games, Pirates relievers have already logged one of the heavier workloads in baseball. Removing a usable arm — even one with only 2 1/3 innings under his belt — forces a ripple effect across the entire staff.

It also puts added pressure on Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller to go deeper into games during the upcoming Arizona Diamondbacks series, something the Pirates would prefer to manage carefully in early May.

And then there’s Kelly, who now misses a game not for anything he did, but for something MLB thinks his pitcher did. That’s the part that feels the most disconnected from reality.

Discipline should match clarity. This situation offered very little of it. Instead, MLB chose to make an example out of ambiguity — and the Pirates are the ones paying for it.

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