Cole Hamels suspended five games

Suspension: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels has been suspended five games by the MLB after he admitted to hitting Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper on purpose. After the game, Nationals General Manager called the plunking of Harper "gutless", "classless"  and "fake tough." The suspension will not actually force Hamels to miss any of his starts. The Phillies have a scheduled off day on Thursday, and they can manipulate their rotation so Hamels can pitch on Sunday and not miss a start.

Is this really necessary? 

Analysis:  I hate Cole Hamels and for some reason I don't exactly love Bryce Harper either but Hamels deserved this suspension. Why would you purposely hit him? Because he's doing well? It doesn't make any sense. The Phillies are lucky that Hamels won't miss any of his starts because of Thursdays off day. I happened to agree with Nationals GM Mike Rizzo here. This is a classless, gutless act that was performed by a pitcher who seems like he enjoys rivalries and intensity. Ex: He called the Mets "choke artists" in 2007. I am also surprised to see the way Harper reacted. He kind of shrugged it off and said Hamels is a great pitcher and its all good. When he blew a kiss to a minor league pitcher as he was rounding the bases last year, I knew he was gonna have an attitude. I figured after an incident like this he would be talking crap about the Phillies and having more of a say in this incident.