By Jorge Arauz and Darren Grossman
The baseball team will be without pitcher Shawn Valdes-Fauli for the rest of the season, after his recent suspension for violating a team rule for the second time this year.
Valdes-Fauli’s parents, Vivian and Carlos, are extremely upset at Head Coach Jim Morris’ decision to suspend their son.
“We’re very devastated – one minute we’re being told how great and hard working our son is, the next minute, he’s being suspended,” they said. “We don’t want to cause too much with this whole thing, but we want people to realize what actually happened.”
According to both parents, Valdes-Fauli was suspended because he missed a few classes and a breakfast in Tampa and was late to a run – violations that neither parent believes justify a suspension.
Both Carlos and Vivian want one thing to be clear: that each player be treated fairly and with equal consequences.
“All we ask is that rules are applied evenly and that Shawn receive the same treatment as other players who have committed more serious offences and larger crimes,” they said.
Morris released the following statement in response to the suspension:
“Shawn Valdes-Fauli has been suspended from the team for the remainder of the season as a result of a team rule violation. Although none of the violations are of a serious nature, they do require the proper disciplinary actions,” he said. “Shawn could be eligible for reinstatement next season.”
Valdes-Fauli was having a solid season for the Hurricanes. In six appearances, he was 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA. In seven innings of work, he gave up just three runs while walking only one batter and striking out eight.
The loss of Valdes-Fauli, who was the team’s primary setup man since returning March 1, means that the Hurricanes have a void to fill in the bullpen.
“The fear for me is we don’t have the experience,” Morris said. “We have guys who can be very good. They just need more experience.”
The loss of Valdes-Fauli could put more pressure on the starting pitchers to go deeper into games. However, starter Cesar Carrillo doesn’t think it will have a detrimental effect on the ‘Canes.
“I don’t feel that there’s any more pressure on us,” Carrillo said. “Other people just need to step up and do the job.”
Brandon Camardese was also suspended this month for a rule violation. Camardese has been reinstated this and is scheduled to pitch Sunday against Penn State.
The Hurricane will continue to follow-up on this issue as more details become available.