Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was placed on administrative leave by MLB as it investigates assault allegations as him. Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trevor Bauer was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball on Friday, three days after an allegation of assault was made by a woman against the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.

“While no determination in the case has been made, we have made the decision to place Mr. Bauer on seven-day administrative leave effective immediately. MLB continues to collect information in our ongoing investigation concurrent with the Pasadena Police Department’s active criminal investigation,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement.

The leave was imposed under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015 and can be the initial step leading to a longer suspension. The administrative leave — during which a player is paid but cannot play — has been extended for players under the policy in the past.

Bauer’s agents said in a statement that he won’t appeal MLB’s decision to put him on leave.

A protection order against Bauer was obtained under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act and was the result of an alleged assault by him that left the woman who sought the order with “severe physical and emotional pain,” Marc Garelick, the woman’s attorney, said this week.

Bauer was not with the Dodgers when the team met President Joe Biden at the White House earlier Friday to celebrate the World Series title they won last year. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had been scheduled to start Sunday against the Washington Nationals.

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“I still, and the Dodgers still, take the stand of we’re going to support whatever decision Major League Baseball makes,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said.

The protection order includes multiple graphic images from the woman who filed the request, according to The Athletic. The woman, in the 67-page ex-parte document, said Bauer assaulted her on two different occasions. Together, the woman said those two incidents included Bauer punching her in the face and body, sticking his fingers down her throat, and strangling her to the point where she lost consciousness multiple times, according to the document.

The alleged assaults described by the woman happened during what she said began as consensual sexual encounters between the two. According to the woman’s declaration attached to the request and obtained by The Athletic, 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.

Pasadena, California, police spokesman Lt. Bill Grisafe confirmed the department is looking into accusations of an assault involving Bauer, but provided no additional details. A hearing in Bauer’s case is scheduled for July 23.

• President Joe Biden praised sports’ ability to heal and bring a nation together in a time of crisis as he hosted the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Friday.

The Dodgers, who captured the title by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays last October, were the first team to be honored at the White House since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first since Biden took office.

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“I think what we discovered is that we need sports more than we ever realized,” said Biden, who praised baseball as an important totem of normalcy in “one of the most challenging years” in the nation’s history.

The president saluted the Dodgers as “a lot more than a baseball club, they are a pillar of American culture.” He also praised the team for using its stadium as a mass COVID-19 vaccination site.

The ceremony marked the latest step in the White House’s efforts to return to large in-person events as it seeks to highlight the nation’s emergence from the pandemic. More than 50 members of the team attended the East Room event as well as a number of political heavyweights with California ties, including Vice President Kamala Harris, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

ANGELS: Slugger Mike Trout is optimistic that he can be back in the Los Angeles Angels’ lineup shortly after the All-Star break.

Trout said before Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles that he started swinging a bat a couple days ago along with playing catch and jogging.

The time-time AL MVP has missed 40 games. He went on the injured list May 18 after straining his right calf the night before against the Cleveland Indians. The Angels said at the time that Trout would miss six to eight weeks.

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“Mentally, just being able to do stuff and not having to worry about it has been big,” Trout said. “It’s still just getting that strength back. Once the tissue grows back it is about getting the mobility back too.”

Trout, who is on the 60-day IL, is eligible to return July 17, when the Angels host Seattle in their second game after the break.

WHITE SOX: Chicago demoted slumping slugger Yermín Mercedes and recalled Jake Burger from Triple-A Charlotte, putting the infielder in the majors after two Achilles tendon injuries and a stint with a local Missouri league.

The AL Central-leading White Sox also reinstated outfielder Adam Eaton from the 10-day injured list and optioned right-hander Zack Burdi to their top farm club. Eaton had been sidelined by a strained right hamstring.

Mercedes, 28, was one of baseball’s biggest surprises early in the season, batting .415 with five homers and 16 RBI in 22 games in April. In May, Mercedes angered Manager Tony La Russa by homering on a 3-0 pitch in the ninth inning of a game the White Sox led 15-4.

The rookie has struggled of late, hitting .150 (16 for 107) over his last 31 games.

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METS: Outfielder Brandon Nimmo was activated from the injured list by New York before its Subway Series opener with the Yankees after missing two months because of a detached hand ligament.

Nimmo was set to bat leadoff and play center field at Yankee Stadium.

He hit .172 (5 for 29) with a double and no RBIs during a nine-game injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Syracuse.

New York also reinstated Marcus Stroman from the bereavement list. He is scheduled to start Saturday, when the Yankees start ace Gerrit Cole.

HOME RUN DERBY: Kansas City catcher Salvador Pérez will join Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles, Pete Alonso of the New York Mets and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies in the All-Star Home Run Derby at Denver’s Coors Field on July 12.

Pérez will become the fourth Kansas City player in the derby after Bo Jackson (1989), Danny Tartabull (1991) and Mike Moustakas (2017).

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Perez, a seven-time All-Star, entered Friday ninth in the AL with 19 home runs.

Alonso won the most recent derby in 2019.

YANKEES: Clint Frazier was put on the 10-day injured list by the New York Yankees with vertigo, three years after a concussion hampered him an entire season.

The 26-year-old left Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels in the third inning because of dizziness.

New York filled the roster spot with outfielder Tim Locastro, obtained a day earlier from Arizona for right-hander Keegan Curtis. The 28-year-old Locastro hit .178 with one homer and five RBIs in 118 at-bats this season.

Given the starting left field job before spring training, Frazier slumped to a .186 average, five homers and 15 RBI in 183 at-bats and lost playing time to 37-year-old Brett Gardner and Miguel Andújar.

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INDIANS: Outfielder Josh Naylor had surgery for multiple leg fractures and torn ligaments sustained in a collision with a teammate during a game Sunday at Minnesota.

The surgery was performed by foot and ankle specialist Dr. Mark Berkowitz at the Cleveland Clinic. Naylor is likely to miss the rest of the season.

Naylor and rookie second baseman Ernie Clement ran into each other as they converged on a fly ball in short right field. Naylor’s foot got trapped underneath him after he slammed into Clement. Naylor was sent sprawling and his lower right leg was bent back awkwardly.

Naylor is batting .253 with seven homers and 21 RBI while playing right field and first base. The 24-year-old was acquired from San Diego last season.


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