Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias has been hit with five misdemeanor charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute last September. The charges include one count of spousal battery, two counts of domestic battery involving a dating relationship, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of assault.
Urias was placed on administrative leave indefinitely by Major League Baseball (MLB) after his arrest outside BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, where he was attending a Major League Soccer game. The arrest came after a citizen reported a physical altercation between a man and a woman, leading to Urias being taken into custody by Department of Public Safety officers on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
Despite the incident involving Urias pushing his wife against a fence and pulling her by the hair or shoulders during an argument, the district attorney's office determined that neither the victim's injuries nor Urias' criminal history warranted felony charges.
This is not the first time Urias has faced allegations of domestic violence. In 2019, he was suspended for 20 games following an arrest on suspicion of domestic battery, although he was not formally charged.
MLB is currently conducting an investigation into the recent incident involving Urias. No MLB player has previously been suspended twice for violating the league's domestic violence policy.
Urias, a Mexican-born left-hander, spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Dodgers, achieving notable success on the field. He finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 and led the majors in wins in the previous season.
Despite his achievements, Urias posted a 4.60 ERA over 21 starts in 2023. Throughout his career, he has maintained a 3.11 ERA over 158 games, with an overall record of 60-25 in the regular season. Urias was part of the Dodgers' World Series-winning team in 2020.
In response to Urias' absence, the Dodgers made significant moves to bolster their pitching staff, signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record-breaking contract and acquiring Tyler Glasnow. They also secured Shohei Ohtani, who is set to return to the mound in 2025.
