Joe Kelly has become a cult hero for throwing at the Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa. He's getting memed everywhere: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDPaW03lCdm/, And his 8-game suspension is setting off a new wave of furor, as the Astros players suffered no penalties whatsoever for their part in the club's sign stealing system during their World Series winning 2017 campaign.
I think MLB wanted Kelly's suspension to strike fear in others who might throw at the Astros. Could do the opposite. Opposing players might be so outraged over the league protecting Houston's players that they make it open season on the Astros. It's already a shortened, weird season. I suspect a number of pitchers will be just fine with the league throwing a suspension at them. They still get their service time. My guess is the more the league tries to shield the Astros, the more the players will try to apply frontier justice.
Even beyond that, will players from the 2017 Astros be wearing a target on their backs for life? Let's say Jose Altuve gets traded to Angels. It's entirely possible pitchers continue to throw at him like he's a stack of milk bottles and they win a prize for knocking him over. The might never go away for them.