Will the Nationals retaliate? Will Bryce Harper's punishment fit the crime? - Washington Post

Manager Dusty Baker, right, and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, left, pull Bryce Harper away from Monday’s scrap. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — The aftermath of the Bryce Harper vs. Hunter Strickland heavyweight bout will linger, tumbling like a helmet flung across a field, slowly losing momentum until it teeters to a stop. Now, in the first 24 hours since the incident, the whole thing is still in motion, still incomplete. Will the Nationals retaliate for a blow dealt to their biggest star? How will Harper and Strickland be punished for their roles? How should Harper and Strickland be punished?

The first question will likely be answered first, at roughly 10:30 p.m. Eastern time, whenever Giants catcher Buster Posey steps to home plate. Because Hunter Strickland does not get a chance to hit (baseballs, not people), any retaliation would likely be exact against the Giants’ Harper equivalent, to the extent that they have one. Posey is that man, the biggest star in a weak lineup and the face of the Giants. The problem, of course, is that Posey played absolutely no part in Monday evening’s melee and told reporters later he considered the fracas a dangerous place to be.

[Steinberg: Bryce Harper started it]

In baseball’s perverted justice, the time-honored response to a 98 mph fastball to the hip is to throw another one, inevitable suspensions be damned. A.J. Cole received a five-game (so, one start) suspension for throwing at Pirates’ infielder Jung-ho Kang in clear retaliation late last season. Gio Gonzalez, Tuesday night’s starter, could expect a similar punishment should he decide to mete out punishment of his own.

As of midday Tuesday, no word had come down from the umpiring crew about whether both teams would be warned beforehand, in which case any retaliation likely would earn immediate ejection. If that is the case, the Nationals might not be able to afford retaliation, at least not from their starter, because of the strain it would place on their bullpen.

Early indications from the Nationals were that management will urge players not to retaliate, to leave one rogue reliever to his fate and not punish the rest of his team. Manager Dusty Baker praised the way the Giants coaching staff handled the incident and lauded the fact that the umpires ejected only Harper and Strickland, the two main combatants. He also said that while his team is “not here to brawl,” they “don’t take nothing,” either. Whether Harper’s punches to Strickland’s face will qualify as appropriate retaliation remains to be seen.

[‘We don’t take nothing’: Nationals react to Bryce Harper-Hunter Strickland fight]

“I guess if you want to settle something, I guess that’s the way to settle it,” said Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who added that he hoped everyone can just move forward now. “I don’t know what they were settling, but they settled it.”

Still unsettled is the question of punishment, which the Nationals expect Major League Baseball to rule on in the next few days. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo might decide to make a case on behalf of Harper to Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, though whether that conversation would have any effect on potential suspensions remains to be seen.

In the meantime, there is only precedent, which indicates that players who charge the mound and fight generally receive larger suspensions than those who throw at batters. The longest suspension given for fighting is 10 games, earned by Michael Barrett for throwing a punch in 2006 and Ian Kennedy for fighting in 2013. More recently, Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor received an eight-game suspension for a landed punch. By comparison, Red Sox hurler Matt Barnes earned a four-game suspension for throwing at Manny Machado earlier this year.

[Bryce Harper is the latest victim in baseball’s evolving culture wars]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nationals are unequivocal in their feeling that Harper should receive a far shorter suspension than Strickland.

“What’s a man supposed to do? That clearly wasn’t going inside. That’s throwing at a spot where you can’t get out of the way,” Baker said Monday. “If anybody should get suspended, I think it should be their pitcher should get suspended, not ours. Ours was reacting to being hit.”

Obviously, any suspension to Strickland would hurt the Giants far less than a similar suspension to Harper, who is in the middle of the Nationals order and a key piece of their plans every single day. Somewhat maddeningly, from the Nationals perspective, had Harper not charged the mound few would have questioned intent, meaning Strickland might have thrown a 98 mph projectile at a man’s leg and experienced no punishment for doing so — other than the fact that Harper’s run scored in the end.

Regardless, Harper seems likely to appeal any suspension he receives, meaning that the Nationals will not feel the effects of the incident against the Giants, and perhaps not even against the Athletics this weekend. But they and the Giants will feel those effects, Tuesday and beyond, until both men serve whatever punishment the league decides they earned.

More:

Svrluga:Even the Giants thought Strickland crossed the line

D.C. Sports Bog:This inspired so many memes

Lost among the melee: Tanner Roark’s gem

Bog:Ledecky invites Harper to spend coming suspension by the pool

Bog:Watch Harper charge the mound

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