White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson had his six-game suspension by Major League Baseball stemming from his fight with Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez on Aug. 5 reduced by one game, a source told the Sun-Times.
Anderson reached a settlement with MLB and will begin serving his suspension Friday when the Sox open a three-game series agianst the Rockies in Colorado.
The Sox will play a man short while Anderson serves the suspension.
The fight attracted national attention, with Anderson dropping his fielder’s glove like a hockey fighter and putting up his fists to take on Ramirez. After throwing two punches that didn’t land, Anderson took one on the side of his jaw and fell straight back like a boxer hitting the canvas.
A benches- and dugout-clearning brawl ensued, with Anderson going all out trying to get back at Ramirez but being restrained by teammates, including Andrew Vaughn who kept Anderson back with a bear hug from behind.
Ramírez and Anderson were also fined an undisclosed amount. Guardians manager Terry Francona, closer Emmanuel Clase, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh 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.
“I told him, I said ‘Hey, take a breath’ because he really didn’t get an All-Star break,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “He went to Seattle [for the All-Star Game]. Hopefully this will be really good for him, and we’ll try to make do without him, which isn’t fun.”
MLB handed out its punishment two days after the fight, but Anderson and Ramírez continued playing until their appeals were heard.
Anderson, who went to the team’s hotel in Cleveland after the fight, cleared concussion protocol, the team said.
Anderson has avoided the media since the fight. He was not expected to make the Sox’ trip to Colorado for a weekend series against the Rockies.
Anderson was suspended for the third time in four seasons last August for making contact with umpire Nick Mahrley. He was also suspended one game last April for making an obscene gesture toward the crowd in Cleveland. It was reduced to a fine. And he started the 2022 season suspended for an incident in Detroit in September, 2021.
Anderson is batting .281/.355/.344 with one homer since the All-Star break after batting .223/.259/.263 in the first half. He’s 2-for-17 with no extra-base hits and eight strikeouts in six games since the fight.
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.