Craig Stammen, Ron Marinaccio suspensions earn Padres an ugly place in MLB’s discipline tracker

The Padres won the game. That’s what’s most important right? Well, that’s the cleanest way to sum up the fallout from San Diego’s heated win over the Orioles this past weekend, because what looked like some late-game message-sending at Camden Yards has now turned into something more official. Ron Marinaccio has been suspended three games by MLB for intentionally throwing at Gunnar Henderson. Craig Stammen earned himself one game, too.

So the Padres got the win alongside a line item on MLB’s discipline tracker. Marinaccio now joins Chris Devenski and Framber Valdez as the only pitchers this season suspended for intentionally throwing at a batter. Devenski got two games in May with the Pirates. Valdez got five with the Tigers. 

Stammen, meanwhile, joins Don Kelly as one of the only managers suspended this season. That part might bother fans more than the suspension itself.

Ron Marinaccio suspension turns Padres-Orioles drama into something official

The Padres’ side of this is not hard to understand.

Xander Bogaerts got hit in the head earlier in the game. The Padres were not exactly pulling outrage out of thin air. They had reasons to be hot. Then Henderson got hit with two outs in the ninth inning, and MLB decided it had seen enough.

But baseball rarely works that cleanly. The game already had tension. Both dugouts had a valid argument about their players being put in danger. However, the Padres probably felt judged without everyone agreeing on how the first few acts should have been weighed.

Marinaccio’s pitch was never going to be ignored. Once Henderson got hit in that spot, at that point in the game, the league was probably going to step in.

Craig Stammen’s suspension says plenty about where the Padres are emotionally

A reliever getting suspended for a hit-by-pitch is straightforward enough. MLB has done this before. It will do it again. But Stammen getting tossed, then suspended, adds a different layer. It gives this whole thing a manager’s fingerprint.

Honestly, Stammen showing some bite isn’t exactly the worst development. Fans have been waiting for somebody in charge to look annoyed. And it was nice that this wasn’t exactly performative.

It’s easy to turn this into an us-against-MLB thing. But the Padres cannot live on that. They have bigger problems than Stammen missing a Monday night game in June, and losing a reliever who’s not a high-leverage guy.

They still have roster needs. They still need their stars to start performing like stars. And maybe, just maybe, they shouldn’t need their third catcher to look like Hank Aaron for one afternoon just to get back in the win column.

The Orioles series gave them a little of everything. Some power, emotion, and punishment. If this team is going to use the moment properly, they shouldn’t view this as MLB picking on them. The Padres finally showed a little edge, got dinged for it and now have to make sure it was worth it.

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