Pirates' Keone Kela reportedly suspended because of altercation with team employee
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Keone Kela was suspended as a result of an altercation in the clubhouse with a team employee, Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday night.
According to sources, Pirates reliever Keone Kela was suspended by the club due to an altercation with Hector Morales, team’s director, cultural readiness and peak performance coach.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) July 24, 2019
Tim Brown reported that the employee is peak performance coach Hector Morales, who is also the Pirates’ director of cultural readiness. Morales, 52, is a retired U.S. Army office and a former coach of the West Point judo team. His duties with the Pirates includes coordinating programs for international players, “helping their assessment, education, transition, integration and performance,” according to a team publication.
Kela, 26, was suspended for the first two games of the St. Louis Cardinals series Monday and Tuesday. He will rejoin the team for Wednesday’s game at PNC Park, according to manager Clint Hurdle.
Kela, who was acquired last year in a trade with the Texas Rangers, had been on the injured list since May 8 with shoulder inflammation.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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