This could have been a breakout year for José Ureña. The Marlins trusted him to deliver the very first pitch of the 2018 MLB regular season and gave him every opportunity to lead their starting rotation. In a platform year leading into arbitration eligibility, Ureña was poised to earn fame and riches as one of the faces of the franchise.
Unfortunately, he has decided to shun that fame for notoriety.
Ureña’s “signature pitch” is the up-and-in fastball to an opponent’s star player, often resulting in a painful hit by pitch. Wednesday night’s intentional plunking of Braves rookie outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr.