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The angle from which the video was shot obscures whether the haymaker thrown by Julio Urías struck his wife.
What’s indisputable is this: He threw the punch.
The Times obtained from the California Highway Patrol a 72-second recording of the incident that derailed Urías’ once-promising baseball career, and its existence could jeopardize the former Dodgers left-hander’s chances of ever pitching in the major leagues again.
Does it matter whether the punch landed?
That could be the most important question that Major League Baseball and its franchises ask themselves when determining whether the 28-year-old Urías deserves another chance to pitch on the sport’s greatest stage. Urías, who hasn’t pitched this season, remains a free agent.
The commissioner’s office continues to investigate the incident outside of LAFC’s BMO Stadium on Sept. 3 of last year, for which Urías pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic battery. MLB placed Urías on administrative leave but has not said if he will be the first player suspended twice under the league’s domestic violence policy. The time he missed this season will presumably count toward his punishment.
Read more: Witness video in former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías’ domestic battery case released
Provided that Urías is cleared to return at some point, the league’s 30 teams will have to consider the distinction between what he is known to have done and what he tried to do. When deliberating whether to sign him, every team might not reach the same conclusion.
However, every team will have pause when reviewing the video, which was provided to The Times’ Bill Shaikin in response to a California Public Records Act request.
Urías is shown chasing two women on a sidewalk before he grabs one of them, presumably his wife, from behind. He pushes her into a fence, at which point they are separated by a man in an LAFC Carlos Vela jersey. Urías throws a roundhouse punch with his pitching hand and unleashes a stream of expletives in Spanish. The man in the Vela jersey continues to intervene and is eventually assisted by stadium security, prompting Urías to walk away.
The footage is uncomfortable to watch. Urías is required to complete a domestic violence treatment program as part of his plea agreement, but the images and sounds of his controllable rage will be hard to shake. Professional sports are businesses, making the court of public opinion almost as important as the court of law. The video might not prevent Urías from finding another job in MLB, but it certainly won’t help.
He threw the punch, after all.
Read more: Ex-Dodger Julio Urías ordered into treatment after pleading no contest to domestic battery
There’s nothing Urías or his representatives can say that would change this reality. No argument they make can justify this behavior.
Urías has only himself to blame for his predicament, as he forfeited control of his future the moment he threw that punch. He now finds himself counting on the mercy of the commissioner’s office, the teams and the teams’ respective fans.
What a waste.
Urías was widely believed to be in line for a nine-figure contract entering his final season under the Dodgers’ control last year. He was named the team’s opening-day starter.
Read more: Dodgers remove Julio Urías’ locker and murals featuring pitcher around Dodger Stadium
The former 20-game winner didn’t live up to expectations on the field, as he was 11-8 with a 4.60 earned-run average in 21 starts. The disappointment over his performance was nothing compared to the feeling of betrayal in the wake of the altercation at BMO Stadium. The fans here overlooked his previous domestic violence suspension in 2019. The image of him celebrating his World Series-clinching save in 2020 was, to them, what Kirk Gibson’s home run was to the previous generation.
They will now remember Urías for an entirely different kind of moment, one much darker and more violent. He can’t return to the Dodgers, and he won’t. In the coming weeks, months or maybe even years, he will learn if a new team will grant him a new platform to create new memories in a new place.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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