Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave was extended by 10 days through Aug. 6 on Tuesday by Major League Baseball and the players’ association while the sport’s investigators check into allegations of sexual misconduct against the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.
Bauer was placed on seven days’ paid leave on July 2 under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015. MLB and the union have agreed to three extensions.
Police in Pasadena, California, and MLB are investigating the allegations made against Bauer by a Southern California woman who says the pitcher choked her to the point where she lost consciousness and punched her during two sexual encounters this year. The woman obtained a protection order against Bauer under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.
According to the woman’s declaration attached to the request for the protection order, she suffered injuries as a result of the second encounter, including two black eyes, a bloodied swollen lip, significant bruising and scratching to one side of her face.
The pitcher’s agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, have disputed the allegations and Fetterolf said in a statement that the pair’s brief relationship was “wholly consensual.” The statement said Bauer has messages from the woman asking for the kind of “rough” sexual interactions they had.
Attorneys for Bauer and for the woman said during a court session last week they intend to call several witnesses, including Bauer, and argue over the order in a hearing that’s expected to last three days.
Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman of Los Angeles County Superior Court delayed the beginning of that hearing until Aug. 2.
Bauer agreed to a $102 million, three-year contract to join his hometown Dodgers earlier this year after winning his first Cy Young Award with the Cincinnati Reds last season. Bauer is 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts this season.
