Eric Hinske, Brandon McCarthy speak out on MLB suspension rulings

As you learned earlier this afternoon, Major League Baseball doled out suspensions as expected for the Dodgers’ and Diamondbacks’ participation in Tuesday night’s fracas. There weren’t too many surprises, though as Craig noted, Yasiel Puig and Zack Greinke were not suspended at all, receiving only fines. On the D-Back side of things, Eric Hinske received a five-game suspension, which was shocking both to Hinske himself and to teammate Brandon McCarthy, who tweeted about it:

“I had him in fantasy once and he killed me so…five games?”- how I assume someone from MLB decided on Hinske’s suspension

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) June 14, 2013

Have you ever watched people who are bad at math try to split a bill? Basically that’s how I picture the process of deciding brawl penalties

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) June 14, 2013

Hinske’s had the soup and ended up paying for someone else’s surf & turf

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) June 14, 2013

As for Hinske, he maintains his innocence. Via Nick Piecoro:

Hinske: “I didn’t throw any punches. I had punches thrown at me by Puig. He gets no games. I get five. You tell me what’s right there.”

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) June 14, 2013

Hinske: “I was holding my ground and shoving. There were a ton of Dodgers coming at me and I never threw a punch.”

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) June 14, 2013

Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw is nearing his return to the mound, according to club manager Dave Roberts. Both Kershaw (left biceps tendinitis) and fellow lefty Rich Hill (left middle finger blister) are scheduled to toss simulated games on Saturday; depending on the outcome, Roberts says Kershaw could forgo a minor league assignment and slot back into the rotation by Thursday.

Kershaw, 30, was diagnosed with biceps tendinitis as the team closed out their Mexico Series at the start of the month. He has not made a start in several weeks, but was finally able to resume throwing on Sunday and managed to get through two successful bullpen sessions. Though Dodgers’ ace hasn’t been completely injury-free over his 11-year career in the majors, this is the first significant issue he’s had with his pitching arm so far. The team is expected to take every precaution with the lefty, and will likely limit him to just four innings during Saturday’s simulated game.

Prior to his injury, Kershaw was working on another dominant run with the club, sporting a 2.86 ERA, 2.0 BB/9 and 9.8 SO/9 through his first 44 innings of the season. While Kershaw, Hill and left-handed starter Hyun-Jin Ryu served their respective terms on the disabled list this month, the Dodgers utilized a combination of relievers Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart, both of whom impressed during their limited time in the rotation.