Cash serves suspension; Rays move on

Following Tuesday’s altercation between the Rays and Yankees, Major League Baseball announced that managers Kevin Cash and Aaron Boone had each been issued one-game suspensions, while Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman got a three-game suspension. All three also were fined an undisclosed amount.

According to MLB’s report, Cash was suspended for “his ejection and postgame comments.” Those included some strong words directed at the Yankees, saying he had a “whole damn stable of guys that throw 98 mph.”

“It’s fair, warranted,” Cash said of the suspension. “Sorry that I’ll miss tonight, for sure, because it’s a big game, but I’ll watch from a seat somewhere. I’m not sure where yet.”

• Brosseau homers twice as Rays top Yanks, 5-2

Boone was suspended as a result of Chapman’s actions, according to the report. Chapman was suspended for “intentionally throwing a pitch at the head area of Mike Brosseau of the Rays in the top of the ninth inning. Chapman has previously been disciplined in his career for intentional throwing at the head area.”

Both Cash and Boone will serve the suspension on Wednesday, but Chapman has elected to appeal. Brosseau said Chapman’s suspension was “fair given the circumstances” of a short season. Neither Boone nor Chapman agreed with the suspension.

“I had no intention of hitting anybody at all,” Chapman said Wednesday. “If you look at my career, I’ve never had any issues with purposely hitting anyone. I know, when you look at the pitch, it looks bad, but I had no intention.”

Before Wednesday’s game, Tampa Bay held a team meeting to clear the air about what transpired. According to Joey Wendle, Cash led the meeting and there was some discussion about what comes next. Wendle and Cash wouldn’t get into specifics, but both made it clear that the Rays are ready to put this behind them. They’re hoping the Yankees are, too.

“There is no reason to keep this going,” Brosseau said. “We’re talking about people’s lives at this point. This is the radar-gun era. People are throwing hard. When it gets to that area of the body with that velocity … there’s just no room for that.”

When asked if he felt any need to chat with Boone, who called the postgame comments “reckless and inflammatory”, Cash said “No. I don’t feel the need to do that.”

With Cash missing Wednesday’s game, bench coach Matt Quatraro will serve as the manager against the Yankees. Quatraro doesn’t have managerial experience, but was a candidate for a handful of jobs over the offseason and handles a lot of the coaching duties during Spring Training.

Injury updates
Nick Anderson (forearm) threw a 20-pitch simulated game on Wednesday, and Cash said reports were good after the session.

“The velocity was in line with what we see when he’s pitching at the Trop,” Cash said. “We’ll definitely talk over the off-day [Thursday], I’m sure those guys will come in, check up with them and see where they’re at.”

Ryan Yarbrough played catch from 150 feet on Wednesday and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday, his first since landing on the injured list (left groin) last Friday.

Rotation set
The Rays’ rotation for the upcoming home series against the Marlins will be: Josh Fleming on Friday, Blake Snell on Saturday and Tyler Glasnow on Sunday. Fleming and Snell faced the Marlins in their previous start, both resulting in wins.