Ex-Dodger Urias charged with 5 misdemeanors

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias has been charged with five misdemeanors in the wake of his September arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence.

The charges, filed to Los Angeles Superior Court by the city attorney’s office Monday, include one count of spousal battery, one count of false imprisonment, one count of assault and two counts of domestic battery involving dating relationship, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office confirmed to ESPN.

Urias, currently a free agent, is scheduled to be arraigned May 2.

The city attorney’s ruling comes three months after the L.A. County district attorney’s office ruled that it will not file felony charges against Urias, writing in its charge-evaluation worksheet on Jan. 9 that “neither the victim’s injuries nor the defendant’s criminal history justify a felony filing.”

Major League Baseball is also investigating the matter and was expected to wait until after the City Attorney’s ruling to determine a potential suspension. A ruling from MLB, which likely has yet to formally interview Urias while the criminal process plays out, isn’t expected to come until after his arraignment.

Urias, once one of the brightest young pitchers in the sport, could become the first player to be suspended twice under MLB’s domestic violence policy, which launched in September of 2015.

The 27-year-old left-hander was arrested on Sept. 3 on suspicion of felony domestic violence and was placed on administrative leave by MLB three days later, effectively ending his season. The incident occurred in the parking lot of BMO Stadium after an LAFC soccer match, during which an eyewitness saw Urias get into a physical altercation with his wife. Urias was arrested on suspicion of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and was released on $50,000 bail the following morning.

The California Highway Patrol’s major crimes division spent the ensuing three months investigating the incident before originally handing the case to the district attorney’s office on Dec. 11. Prosecutors wrote in their report that Urias pushed his wife against a fence and “pulled her by the hair or shoulders.”

Four of the misdemeanor charges against Urias — for spousal battery and false imprisonment, as well as the two domestic battery involving dating relationship charges — carry a maximum penalty of one year in L.A. County jail, according to the city attorney’s office. The maximum penalty for the assault charge is six months in jail.

Urias was originally suspended 20 games by MLB in August of 2019 in the wake of an arrest on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery, though he was not criminally charged in that incident.

Signed out of Mexico shortly after his 16th birthday, Urias navigated through the Dodgers’ farm system as a prized prospect, eventually joining the team as a 19-year-old rookie in 2016. He then returned from major shoulder surgery to become an important contributor on championship-caliber teams, recording the final out of the 2020 World Series, accumulating 20 wins in 2021 and finishing third in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2022.

As a young free agent with relatively few innings under his belt, Urias was widely projected to sign a $200-plus million contract on the open market before the incident. Now, even in the absence of a criminal conviction, his MLB future seems to be in jeopardy.