Red Sox Steven Wright Arrested for Domestic Violence

Since the start of baseball’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB has taken a strict stance on domestic violence. Boston Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright will be the next player investigated by the league.

Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston reports that Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright was arrested for domestic violence last Friday.

Wright’s lawyer, Alex Little, released a statement on behalf of the family.

"“On Friday night, Steven was arrested at our home following a verbal argument, and the police charged him with domestic assault. Although he said things he deeply regrets, he did not raise his hand at anyone during the incident, and the situation was purely emotional. We are working together as a family to make our relationships stronger, and we ask that you respect our privacy as we do so.”"

Under the new Domestic Violence policy stated in the Collective Bargaining agreement, Wright is now subject to punishment and investigation by local law enforcement as well as Major League Baseball.

Major League Baseball will conduct an independent investigation. For Wright, that might not bode well. Even if local law enforcement is unable to find any evidence against Wright, he is still subjected to punishment by MLB.

We’ve seen in the past with Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes among others. Both players were not found guilty by the local law enforcers. However, they did both get punished by MLB with Chapman receiving a 30-game suspension and Reyes receiving a suspension of 51 games.

Situations like this can not and will not be tolerated by MLB, its Player’s Association or the Boston Red Sox.

This incident involving Wright does not help Boston’s staff in any way, shape or form.

Wright missed most of 2017 due to a knee injury that required season-ending surgery. One year removed from a 2016 in which Wright was named an American League All-Star, the Red Sox were counting on more production from him last season.

This season, they find themselves dong much of the same. After Eduardo Rodriguez had surgery, Boston knew he wouldn’t be able to pitch for at least the first two months of this season.

Expecting Wright to eat innings this year in Rodriguez’ absence was not by any means a far-fetched thought. In a rotation of Chris Sale, David Price, Drew Pomeranz, and Rick Porcello, Rodriguez offered a solid number five starter.

Wright however, offered a different perspective on the mound. The right-handed knuckle ball pitcher would offer a change of pace for opposing lineups.

With hard throwers like Sale and Price at the helm, and the rotation being four fifths lefty, Wright gave Boston another right hander to compliment Porcello at the back-end of the rotation.

Now, the Red Sox might look to add Brian Johnson to the rotation or perhaps right-handed  pitchers Hector Velezquez or Brandon Workman could fill the void in Rodriguez and Wright’s absences.

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It will be interesting to see what happens to Wright via MLB punishment or punishment enforced by law or both. Regardless, look for MLB to take this punishment as seriously as they have in similar instances in the past, as they wish to continue their zero tolerance policy.