Following Tuesday’s benches-clearing fight between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, MLB issued many penalties, prompting a significant alteration in Milwaukee’s dugout.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy was one of those disciplined as a result of the altercation. Murphy will miss two games, while pitchers Abner Uribe and Freddy Peralta are punished for six and five games, respectively.
José Siri, a Rays outfielder, has also been suspended for three games. Siri is appealing his suspension, as are Uribe and Peralta, according to Dominic Cotroneo of 620 WTMJ.
Milwaukee is currently without a manager, therefore associate manager Rickie Weeks will serve as interim manager for the next two games.
Weeks was taken second overall in the 2003 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He made his major league debut for the club later that year and stayed with the organization through the 2014 season.
Weeks has 1,009 hits, 148 home runs, 430 RBI, 126 stolen bases, and a 12.4 WAR during his career with Milwaukee. He batted.249 with a.771 OPS for the Brewers, ranking sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2005 and making the All-Star Game in 2011.
After bouncing throughout the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Rays to finish his career, the second baseman retired. Weeks returned to Milwaukee as an assistant to the player development team in February 2022.
Weeks was interviewed for the Brewers’ manager opening this fall, when Craig Counsell resigned to join the Chicago Cubs. Although Murphy was hired, Milwaukee made sure to keep Weeks on board by promoting him.
Weeks, 41, has now managed his first MLB game, with the Brewers defeating the Rays 7-1 on Wednesday. Milwaukee has the day off Thursday before starting a series against Counsell’s Cubs on Friday.
Counsell was Weeks’ teammate from 2007 to 2011, serving as the veteran to Weeks’ rising star in the infield.
