Volquez drops appeal, will serve 5-game suspension

CLEVELAND -- Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez is dropping his appeal of a five-game suspension, and began serving the suspension Monday. Volquez received the suspension on Thursday for an on-field incident in which he threw a punch intended for White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija during a bench-clearing fracas. The blow did not come close to connecting.

"I think it was the right time to do it," Volquez said of dropping the appeal. "I think it was a good time."

Volquez said he had no regrets about his actions.

"No. It's all good," he said. "You got to protect your teammates."

Volquez will be able to return to action on Saturday when the Royals play Detroit. Manager Ned Yost indicated Volquez likely would start that day, which is why Yost agreed with Volquez's decision to serve the suspension now.

"It's probably best for everyone," Yost said. "We need to get some certainty in our rotation. He pitched [Sunday], so let's get his suspension out of the way."

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Meanwhile, Yost has a decision to make about Friday's starter -- the spot in the rotation where Volquez would normally come up. As of now, Yost is leaning toward long reliever Chris Young.

That would mean that Yost would have to shut Young down no later than after Tuesday's game to give him enough rest for a Friday start.

"I'm going to try to hold out Young to get him to that spot," Yost said. "But if I have to use him, we'll adjust then."

Young, too, said it would be optimal to not pitch past Tuesday if he were going to start on Friday. And Young said he's not sure if there would be a pitch limit on him in that potential start.

"I'm not looking that far ahead," Young said.

Yost said using rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan was not an option for a spot start on Friday. But Yost indicated he could go with right-hander Yohan Pino if Young is not available.