Blanco suspended 10 games for foreign substance, won't appeal

HOUSTON -- Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco, who was ejected from Tuesday’s game against the A’s when umpires found a sticky residue in his glove prior to the fourth inning, was suspended 10 games Wednesday by Major League Baseball. Blanco won’t appeal the suspension, which began Wednesday.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Blanco was initially thinking about appealing but decided not to after a conversation with his agent.

“He just felt like, ‘Look, I want to get back out there. I’m not going to appeal this,’ and he’s going to move forward,” Brown said.

The suspension was handed down by Michael Hill, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of on-field operations. Blanco also received an undisclosed fine for violating the prohibitions on foreign substances.

Blanco said Tuesday he had put rosin on his left arm and it made its way into the glove because he was sweating. Crew chief Laz Diaz said Blanco told the umpiring crew his glove was sticky because of rosin, and Diaz responded: “We told him: ‘This is not rosin.’”

“You guys notice that Ronel sweats profusely,” Brown said. “It’s like a guy running up and down the basketball court. I think it was a combination of the rosin and the sweat and it’s the umpire’s call. He made the judgment that he thought it was a sticky substance, so we’re at the mercy of what his judgment is. From our perspective, we feel like this is a guy who sweats a ton and when you combine the sweat and the rosin, we feel like maybe that’s what they felt was sticky.”

Brown said all players are given information during Spring Training concerning rules, which covers everything from the pitch timer to which substances are legal. It’s illegal for a pitcher to have rosin on his non-throwing hand, a rule Blanco admitted he didn’t know.

“We’ll make sure that we go over it again with everybody,” manager Joe Espada said.

The Astros are using a six-man pitching rotation, so Blanco will essentially miss only one start. He’s eligible to return to the Astros on May 26 against the A’s in Oakland. Blanco has been one of baseball’s breakout performers in the first two months of the season, going 4-0 with a 2.09 ERA in eight starts, including an April 1 no-hitter against the Blue Jays.

“Ronel Blanco is a good human being, he’s a good dude, and he’s worked his butt off to get into the starting rotation,” Brown said. “I think he sees it as ‘Look, I don’t want to extend this any longer. I want to get back to the business of pitching.’”

While Blanco is suspended, the Astros will play with a 25-man roster because they can’t replace him. Houston was forced to use five relievers to cover seven innings to pull out a 2-1 win in 10 innings Tuesday, which means several of their relievers won’t be available Wednesday. Espada said the bullpen is “very limited.”

That may force the Astros to make a roster move following Wednesday's game to get a fresh arm to Minute Maid Park prior to Thursday’s game. The Astros cannot option a position player and replace him with a pitcher, however.