Atlanta Braves telegraphed intent to throw at Jose Urena

The Atlanta Braves could not have made it more obvious that they were going to throw at Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Urena if they tried.

On the surface, the Atlanta Braves decision to promote Touki Toussaint was grounded in baseball reasons. Shane Carle had struggled in his six outings at the major league level, and Toussaint had one strong outing before his disastrous start. It made sense to bring the top prospect back to the major league level, and get him some more work.

Except, there was a question of the timing of the move. The Braves were set to face the Miami Marlins and Jose Urena, with the memories of Urena’s plunking of Ronald Acuna last season still fresh in their memory. After all, he had not faced the Braves after that incident, meaning that retaliation had yet to occur. With Toussaint on the roster, it was the perfect time. On Friday, Kevin Gausman fulfilled his part, throwing behind Urena and being ejected.

Prior to that pitch, Gausman had allowed a run on a hit, a walk, and a hit batter, striking out one while recording five outs. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Toussaint immediately entered the game, getting out of the inning and saving the Braves bullpen. He fired four innings in total, allowing one run on four hits and three walks, striking out six.

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That is precisely the reason that Toussaint was called up on Friday. Based on his pitching schedule in AAA, Friday was conveniently his normally scheduled day. So, if he could get that work in, and the Braves could send that message to Urena, it was the best of both worlds.

In the end, the biggest failure in this situation has to fall on the umpiring crew. Anyone who saw that the Braves called up Toussaint, and that Urena was the opposing starter, had to know what was going to happen. That both benches were not warned prior to the start of the game, or that Gausman was ejected after throwing that pitch, is entirely their mistake.

For now, baseball justice has been meted out. Although Urena did not wear Gausman’s fastball, the intent was there. The bad blood from 2018 has been answered, with Urena finally facing the heat for his actions. Unless, of course, this happens again.

If so, the Atlanta Braves may have learned a lesson in retaliation. Next time, maybe they will not telegraph their intent by making such an obvious roster move on that day.