Trevor Bauer Is Eligible to Pitch in 2023 After Arbitrator Reduces His Suspension

The Dodgers righthander was suspended last April for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.

An independent arbitrator has reduced Dodgers righthander Trevor Bauer’s 324-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy to 194 games, according to someone familiar with the decision. The ruling essentially gives Bauer credit for time served—he has not pitched since June 2021 while on administrative leave and then suspended—and reinstates him immediately. The suspension remains the longest for domestic violence in league history. (The previous record was a one-season ban of free-agent pitcher Sam Dyson in March ’21.)

MLB suspended Bauer in April for two full seasons after a nine-month investigation, spurred when a woman filed a petition seeking a restraining order against him on June 29, 2021. The woman said he assaulted her during two encounters of rough sex that began as consensual. She said he choked her until she lost consciousness, sodomized her and punched her hard enough that she sought treatment at a hospital. Bauer and his representatives have denied the allegations.

This is a developing story.