Marcus Stroman suspension reduced to 5 games by MLB

I’m not sure you would call it vindication or not, but for Marcus Stroman, he’ll at least take the compromise. On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced that the six-game suspension for the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander would be reduced to just five games, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

Marcus Stroman suspension cut to five games, he begins serving ban today.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) September 21, 2014

The original suspension, which was handed down and appealed four days ago, was issued to the rookie after he threw behind the head of Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph on Monday night. The throw, which Buck Showalter, John Gibbons, and practically anyone with a pulse could see, was retaliation for Joseph blocking the plate and stepping on the hand of Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes.

However, through the genius of the appeal process, Stroman was able to not only make his next start, a six-inning, 2-run win over the New York Yankees, but also succeeded in knocking a game off of his ban.

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Now, through the inequity of the suspension system for starting pitchers, Stroman will only be pushed back a day from his regularly scheduled start. Coincidentally, that will line Stroman up to make his final start of the season in the season’s final series, facing none other than the Baltimore Orioles.

The rookie will look to end first season on a strong note, building on a campaign that has seen Stroman post an 11-6 record with 3.77 ERA, a 7.6 K/9 ratio, and a 53.9% ground-ball rate despite not making his season debut until May 4th and his first start on May 31st.