MLB suspends outfielder who threw bat at pitcher — but there's a catch
Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles was suspended 10 games and received an undisclosed fine after he threw his bat at a pitcher who hit him with a pitch Sunday.
The catch? Robles' misdeed took place while he was on a minor league rehabilitation assignment. He began playing rehab games with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on Aug. 12.
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In the third inning of the Rainiers' series finale in Las Vegas, Aviators pitcher Joey Estes hit Robles with a pitch that he swung at — technically a strike.
Robles decided to take the rest of the day off. He quickly threw his bat toward Estes, prompting an ejection from home plate umpire Joe McCarthy. The benches emptied as Robles had to be restrained from charging the mound.
Longer look at Victor Robles tossing the bat at the pitcher after getting hit, Robles also hucked a caddy of sunflower seeds onto the field after they got him to go back to the dugout pic.twitter.com/cx7pKfeeGX
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) August 18, 2025
The suspension will not go into effect until Robles returns to the active big league roster, meaning the Mariners can effectively choose when to give him a break after the 28-year-old outfielder completes his rehab.
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On Sept. 1, all MLB teams are allowed to expand their rosters to 28. The Mariners might choose to keep their roster at 27 players at the beginning of the month.
"We just have to kind of reassess what we keep at that time, and we probably won't know until it's kind of right in front of us, just based on what's happening around our team, which way to go,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto told MLB.com.
Robles is expected to appeal the suspension, and is allowed to continue playing until his appeal is heard.
Victor Robles has received a 10-game suspension from Major League Baseball. He is expected to appeal the decision in hopes of having it reduced.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) August 19, 2025
Any suspension must be served at the MLB level, meaning he will miss games once he's reinstated from the injured list.
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