Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Odúbel Herrera accepted a suspension for the rest of the season under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.
The commissioner’s office announced his decision Friday, two days after domestic assault charges against Herrera in Atlantic City, New Jersey, were dismissed. He had been charged with simple assault and knowingly causing bodily injury stemming from an incident on May 27 at the Golden Nugget Casino. The woman, his girlfriend, declined to press charges.
“I acted in an unacceptable manner and am terribly disappointed in myself. I alone am to blame for my actions,” Herrera said in a statement issued through the players’ association.
“I’ve taken meaningful steps to assure that nothing like this will ever happen again. I have learned from this experience, and I have grown as a person. I apologize to the Phillies’ organization, my teammates, and all my fans.”
Herrera said he intends to “work on being a better partner, teammate, and person.”
Herrera’s suspension would include any postseason games. The unpaid suspension is retroactive to June 24 and covers 85 games. He will lose $2,634,409 of his $5 million salary, the amount due over the final 98 days of the 186-day regular season.
He is in the third year of a $30.5 million, five-year contract and is due to make $7 million next season and $10 million in 2021. The Phillies have club options for 2022 and ‘23.
“We are encouraged by Odúbel’s acceptance of his discipline as an indication of his willingness to learn from this and change his behavior appropriately,” the team said in a statement.
An All-Star center fielder in 2016, Herrera hit .222 with one home run and 16 RBIs in 39 games this season. He missed time in April with a hamstring injury.
Retired pitcher Chris Capuano, of West Springfield, has been hired as director of operations of the Major League Baseball Players Association after receiving a master’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 40-year-old became a player representative as a rookie in 2004 and was a member of the union’s negotiating teams in 2011 and 2016.
He is a graduate of Duke, where he majored in economics.
Capuano was 77-92 with a 4.38 ERA in 225 starts and 91 relief appearances over 12 seasons from 2003-16 for Arizona, Milwaukee, the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston and the New York Yankees. He won 18 games for the Brewers in 2005 and was an All-Star the following year.
His hiring was announced Friday.
Shane Bieber, Liam Hendriks and Max Muncy have been added to rosters for next week’s All-Star Game.
Major League Baseball announced the changes Friday.
Bieber and Hendriks will replace injured Rays right-hander Charlie Morton and Rangers left-hander Mike Minor on the AL roster.
Bieber, a right-hander with the Indians, is 7-3 with a 3.54 ERA. He’ll join Cleveland teammates Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor and Brad Hand as hometown representatives for the game at Progressive Field.
The Athletics’ Hendriks has a 1.29 ERA over 48⅔ innings. The Australian righty’s first All-Star appearance will come just over a year after Oakland designated him for assignment and sent him to Triple-A after he cleared waivers.
Muncy, an infielder with the Dodgers, will replace Washington’s Anthony Rendon, who chose to skip the game to rest nagging injuries. It’s Muncy’s first All-Star nod, although he competed in last year’s Home Run Derby.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have placed outfielder David Peralta on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
Peralta left Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning and was replaced by Tim Locastro in left field.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Friday that Peralta had an MRI on Thursday that revealed joint inflammation that remained from a previous right shoulder problem. Peralta hurt his right shoulder and had stint on the injured list in late May.
Lovullo said with the All-Star break, this was the best time to give Peralta a break. He said he expects Peralta to return to form after the break.
Peralta is one of Arizona’s best hitters with runners in scoring position and a vocal leader in the dugout. He’s batting .289 with 24 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 44 RBI in 73 games. His average is .347 with 38 RBI with runners in scoring position.
The Diamondbacks have called up infielder Domingo Leyba from Triple-A Reno to take Peralta’s place on the roster.