Kansas City Royals left-handed reliever Amir Garrett expressed regret multiple times for throwing his drink at a fan who heckled him from the stands in Chicago earlier this month, but Major League Baseball’s central office decided to impose disciplinary action anyway.
MLB announced on Monday afternoon that Garrett had received a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for throwing a drink on a spectator in the stands during a game against the Chicago White Sox on August 2, at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The announcement came from Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations.
The suspension had been scheduled to begin Monday night, but Garrett has elected to appeal the suspension and remains available for the Royals while the appeal process plays out.
The video of Garrett throwing his drink at the fan was posted on Twitter and shared by Jomboy Media within hours of the incident. Much of the drink landed in the dugout.
Garrett expressed remorse the next afternoon while speaking to The Star.
“He just got me at a bad time,” Garrett said. “Heckling me a little bit, and I let my emotions get the best of me. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”
Garrett also said that he planned to reach out to the fan, personally and “make amends.”
“It’s definitely not something I’m happy about,” Garrett said. “I have a daughter. Kids see everything. That’s not something I want kids to be watching.”
He later posted an apology on his Twitter account and wrote, “I hope he can forgive me.”
Garrett, 30, has been one of the club’s more reliable relievers in recent weeks. The left-hander tossed a scoreless inning in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and struck out Trayce Thompson, Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger in order.
Since the MLB All-Star break, Garrett has not allowed an earned run and has held opposing hitters to a .103 batting average in nine innings. He has recorded eight strikeouts during that stretch.
This season, Garrett has stranded 23 of 26 inherited base runners, tied for the third-highest rate of stranded inherited runners (88.5%) among pitchers who’ve inherited at least 25 runners.
