Carlos Carrasco suspended 8 games for hitting Kevin Youkilis

MLB has announced Carlos Carrasco has been suspended 8 games for throwing at and hitting Kevin Youkilis of the New York Yankees. Carrasco had previously been suspended for throwing at Kansas City's Billy Butler in 2011. That prior incident and the suspect timing of the Youkilis hit-by-pitch (it came one pitch after Robinson Cano hit a long home run off Carrasco) made it an almost certainty he would be suspended and today's announcement shouldn't surprise any of us.

Carrasco has denied that the pitch was intentional (and given his control problems, it's at least somewhat plausible!), "I know it doesn't look good. I really want to say sorry. I don't want to hit anybody." Under the circumstances though, he must have known this was coming.

8 games is a bit longer than the standard 5 or 6 games, I suspect it is a combination of it being his second such suspension and MLB possibly wanting to make a stronger stand against on field incidents after Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers had his collarbone broken last night in a scuffle with San Diego's Carlos Quentin after Quentin was hit by a pitch.

Carrasco (who was roughed up the Yankees throughout the game) has already been optioned back down to Columbus, so he will not begin serving the suspension yet. He may choose to appeal the decision, but given the circumstances, I find it unlikely he will see any reduction of the penalty. It's hard to say how soon Carrasco would have been back in the rotation if not for this, but the need to miss an additional 8 games after being added again will complicate matters.

Hopefully Carrasco can find his control (and composure) back in Columbus and eventually become a real contributor for the team.