-
Jeff Passan, ESPN
Major League Baseball announced it placed Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias on administrative leave Wednesday, three days after police arrested the left-hander on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
Urías, 27, did not travel with the Dodgers after his late-Sunday arrest outside BMO Stadium, where he had watched the Inter Miami-LAFC soccer game. He was taken into custody on charges of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, which can be filed as a felony or misdemeanor.
MLB can unilaterally place a player on administrative leave — during which he is paid but removed from a team’s roster — for seven days under the joint domestic-violence policy. Administrative leave can be renewed but requires approval of the MLB Players Association.
Urías also was on administrative leave in 2019 following an arrest for alleged domestic battery. While he wasn’t charged, Urías was required to complete a yearlong domestic-violence-counseling program, and MLB suspended him 20 games. No player has been suspended twice under the league’s policy, which was instituted in 2015.
MLB has opened an investigation into Sunday’s incident, when Urías was arrested and spent about five hours in custody before being released on $50,000 bail. In a statement acknowledging the arrest, the Dodgers said: “While we attempt to learn all the facts, he will not be traveling with the team.”
Urías entered 2023 as the Dodgers’ ace, coming off a season in which he led the National League with a 2.16 ERA and finished third in NL Cy Young voting. A free agent this winter, Urías was expected to receive a contract in excess of $200 million, but he struggled this season, going 11-8 with a 4.60 ERA and allowing a career-high 24 home runs in just 117⅓ innings.