D-backs await suspensions and their effects

SAN DIEGO -- As Ian Kennedy and Eric Hinske wait for their suspensions appeal to be heard, D-backs manager Kirk Gibson is wondering what his team's roster will look like should they miss time.

"When the whole suspension thing comes down for good, we may have to readjust our team," Gibson said.

A suspended player's roster spot can't be replaced, and Gibson is hoping the players will not have to serve their suspensions at the same time. That would leave the D-backs two players short in the bullpen or on the bench for five games and still short a man for another five .

"The way it's set now, that's 15 games," Gibson said. "That's a long time. ... What do you need? Do you need another starter? Do you need another bullpen arm? You playing pitchers short? You playing position players short?

"There's a lot of things we might have to get into. It's a big disadvantage."

Kennedy and Hinske were suspended 10 and five games respectively for their role in Tuesday's benches-clearing melee with the Dodgers. Both players are appealing the suspension and had not heard about when a decision might be made.

Hinske's suspension seems as if it will almost certainly be reduced after members of the Dodgers said he was trying to be a peacemaker on the field. Gibson spoke to Hinske in the manager's office before Saturday's game against the Padres.

"They know he was out there saying, 'Hey, let's just stop it,'" Gibson said.

Gibson said before Saturday's game that he had not talked to Kennedy about his appeal.

"He has to do what he has to do," Gibson said. "He feels that that's too much, and they feel they have a basis of it being too much."