Free agent pitcher Sam Dyson has accepted a suspension for the entire 2021 season for violating MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, the league announced Friday.
“Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Dyson violated our policy and that discipline is appropriate,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in the release.
Dyson, 32, last pitched in the majors for the Minnesota Twins in 2019. The allegations were brought to light by his ex-girlfriend, Alexis Blackburn, in an Instagram post posing as her cat late that year. “I don’t have to worry about getting hurt because of anger or control,” the post read. “I don’t have to be scared of yelling and things being hurled at mom and me.”
MLB opened an investigation after the post, and Dyson hasn’t pitched since the allegations came to light. As part of the policy, he will participate in a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program supervised by the Joint Policy Board.
Dyson is an eight-year veteran with a career 3.40 ERA. He’s the 13th player to be suspended under the current MLB domestic abuse policy which took effect in 2015.