Major League Baseball has dropped the two-game suspension against Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley for his controversial slide, according to multiple reports Sunday.
Utley, 37, will be available to play on Opening Day, sources told the Los Angeles Times and ESPN.
Utley was suspended after his hard slide in Game 2 of the National League Division Series left New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a broken leg.
Tejada did not offer much reaction to Utley’s suspension being dropped.
“I don’t care really,” Tejada said Sunday. “I don’t care. I care about me. I’m healthy here. I’m happy here. So I don’t care about what’s going to happen there or what’s the decision they take there.”
At the time of the suspension announced on Oct. 11, MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre called the slide illegal for a “rolling block that occurs away from the base.”
On Feb. 25, MLB and the players’ union adopted a new rule that banned rolling block slides to break up potential double plays.
“It will definitely help keep guys healthy for sure,” Utley said at the time of the rule change.
Utley declined to comment before the Dodgers’ spring training workout Sunday in Phoenix.