FanPost Friday: Should MLB be more strict when pitchers throw at batters?

Move over American history, there’s a new “shot heard ‘round the world” in town. It’s when Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland intentionally plunked Nationals slugger Bryce Harper with a 98 MPH fastball to the hip. Why? Because Harper hit two home runs off of him during the NLCS...three years ago.

So what does Harper do? He charges the mound and starts swinging, benches clear, Buster Posey cloud gazes for a bit while the mess is clean up, and the two players are ripped away from each other and back into their clubhouses.

After the altercation, both players received suspensions, Strickland getting six games and Harper getting four (which he contested down to three). A lot of fans and sports writers a like are saying that the punishment is too unbalanced and that a pitcher like Strickland should have a suspension more equal to his actual playing time. But would that be enough? Would a week, a month, a fine be enough to get everyone to stop this nonsense?

Throwing at hitters is dangerous. I don’t think anyone is arguing this point. But pitchers continue to do it. So fans, we’re asking you this: Should pitchers be given more extensive punishments by MLB for purposely hitting another player? As always, write us a FanPost here and you could be featured on the front page of our site. Happy writing!