Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright had his domestic assault case retired for one year by the Williamson County Courthouse in Tennessee Thursday, according to a court clerk.
Wright was originally scheduled to be in court Friday regarding an arrest on Dec. 8.
“It’s over with,” the clerk said. “It’s done.”
No more information was revealed, though Wright and his wife Shannon released a joint statement through the law firm representing him.
“We are pleased that the recent case with Steven has been retired, and that we were able to resolve this matter quickly,” the statement read. “We regret the attention this has caused our family, the Red Sox, and Major League Baseball. We remain committed to working together to improve our relationship.”
A retirement is the first phase toward a dismissal, and Wright’s case can be dropped if there are no other offenses by the pitcher in the next 12 months, the law firm said.
Wright was arrested following an argument with his wife earlier this month. He was charged with domestic assault and preventing a 911 call, each of which are misdemeanors in Tennessee. He was released on a $2,500 bond.
Wright’s lawyer, Alex Little, originally released a statement from the Wright family that insisted the Red Sox knuckleballer “did not raise his hands at anyone during the incident, and the situation was purely emotional.”
Reached Thursday, the Red Sox once again offered no comment on the incident, leaving it in the hands of Major League Baseball.
An MLB spokesman said, “We are conducting our own investigation, independent of the criminal process. There is not a timetable for that investigation.”
It’s worth noting that the joint policy between MLB and the Players Association provides the commissioner with authority to hand out discipline that is not dependent on whether the player is convicted or pleads guilty to a crime.
MLB handed out five such suspensions for domestic assault cases since agreeing to a joint policy with the Players Association in 2015, according to the New York Times.
The league notably suspended Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman 30 games at the start of the 2016 season for allegedly choking his girlfriend. They also hit Mets closer Jeurys Familia for 15 games in March for inappropriate conduct toward his wife, and Tampa Bay catcher Derek Norris the final month of the 2017 season for a domestic violence-related incident.
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