Tim Anderson had his six-game suspension from Major League Baseball stemming from his fight with Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez on Aug. 5 reduced by one game Thursday, and the White Sox shortstop will begin serving the penalty Friday.
Anderson was going to appeal but reached a settlement with MLB, and will be unavailable starting Friday when the Sox (48-73) open a three-game series against the Rockies in Colorado.
The Sox will play a man short while Anderson serves the suspension, but with Elvis Andrus and Zach Remillard the only middle infielders on the 26-man roster, they are expected to call up infielder Lenyn Sosa from Triple-A Charlotte. Another roster move would be made to make room for Sosa, who is batting .271/.313/.507 with 17 homers and an .820 OPS in 71 games for Charlotte. Sosa hit .132/.145/.221 with one homer in 22 games for the Sox this season.
Anderson, who was expected to travel with the team to Denver Thursday evening, won’t play in Colorado and will miss home games against the Mariners Monday and Tuesday.
The Anderson-Ramirez fight at Progressive Field attracted national attention, with Anderson dropping his fielder’s glove like a hockey fighter and putting up his fists to take on Ramirez near second base after the two exchanged words following Ramirez’ ordinary head-first slide into second base. After throwing two punches that didn’t land, Anderson took one on the side of his jaw from Ramirez and fell straight back like a boxer hitting the canvas.
A benches- and dugout-clearing brawl ensued, with Anderson trying to get back at Ramirez but being restrained by teammates, including Andrew Vaughn who kept Anderson back with a bear hug from behind. The game was delayed 14 minutes before order was restored.
Tom Hamilton's call of the Jose Ramirez-Tim Anderson fight on Cleveland radio is the stuff of legend.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 6, 2023
"DOWN GOES ANDERSON! DOWN GOES ANDERSON!" pic.twitter.com/ZXSUW4eE0V
Ramírez and Anderson were also fined an undisclosed amount. Guardians manager Terry Francona, closer Emmanuel Clase, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and Sox manager Pedro Grifol were suspended for one game.
Sox pitcher Michael Kopech and Guardians rookie Gabriel Arias were fined for their actions.
Ramirez was handed a three-game suspension that was reduced to two games on appeal. He sat out Saturday and Sunday games against the Rays.
Anderson has played in five of the Sox’ nine games since the fight, missing Tuesday’s 5-3 win against the Cubs with neck stiffness, and has not talked to media since the fight.
It has been a most difficult season for the 2019 batting champion and 2021-22 All-Star. Anderson was batting .298 when he sprained his knee in April on a poorly executed rundown by the Sox infield and never got untracked when he returned. He has also acknowledged dealing with off-field family problems that went public on social media.
Since the All-Star break, Anderson is batting .281/.355/.344 with his only homer after batting .223/.259/.263 in the first half, but he’s 2-for-17 with no extra-base hits and eight strikeouts since the fight. He has played well defensively of late, though, and has committed just one error in his last 40 games.
Anderson was issued a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for making contact with an umpire in a game against the Athletics last July and was also suspended one game last April for making an obscene gesture toward the crowd in Cleveland — that one getting reduced to a fine on appeal. Anderson started the 2022 season suspended for bumping an umpire in Detroit in September, 2021.
NOTES: Friday starter Michael Kopech is 2-5 with a 6.09 ERA in his last eight starts. He’s 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA lifetime against the Rockies.
*Rockies Friday starter Peter Lambert is the brother of Sox reliever Jimmy Lambert.
*The Sox are 12-22 in interleague games after going 11-9 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2021.
