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Major League Baseball has reportedly issued a five-game suspension for Milwaukee Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado for his role in a bench clearing brawl in Sunday’s contests versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Milwaukee (14-5) would go on to win the game, 3-2, in 14 innings.
Maldonado could be visibly seen landing a punch on Pittsburgh outfielder Travis Snider directly in the middle of Sunday’s fight. MLB is expected to announce further punishments for other players involved in the on field altercation. It’s still possible Maldonado could appeal the suspension, although no word has been made available yet of his intentions.
While the Brewers will have to do without their catcher for the next five games, they at least were getting solid production out of the 27-year old. Maldonado exited his last game against the Pirates batting a stellar .333, knocking in four hits in 12 trips to the plate. Maldonado also had contributed one RBI and a run on the year.
Maldonado entered the season hoping to rebound from a less than stellar 2012 season that saw him hit at just a .169 clip. Per Maldonado, he shed 26 pounds during the offseason in an effort to get into the best shape of his life. Maldonado credited “eating right” for helping the transformation. Brawl participation aside, the diet and commitment to improving has arguably paid off for Maldonado.
Jonathan Lucroy will likely step in and do the majority of the work at catcher for the Brew Crew while Maldonado serves his suspension. Lucroy has actually seen more action at the plate than Maldonado to this point in the season, hitting an equally stellar .312, while connecting on 21 of 67 at bats. He has also contributed seven RBI, 8 runs and one home run on the season. Lucroy was given Monday off to prepare for the five-game stretch after going a horrid 0-for-6 in Saturday’s battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
