MLB Suspends Trevor Bauer For Two Years

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer received a two-year suspension from Major League Baseball on Friday (April 29) for violating the league's domestic violence policy, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports.

Bauer posted a response on his verified Twitter account minutes after Passan's report.

"In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy. I am appealing this action and expect to prevail. As we have throughout this process, my representatives & I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings," Bauer tweeted.

ESPN reports Bauer will be suspended without pay effective immediately on Friday and the pitcher will appeal the suspension.

A San Diego woman filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order claiming Bauer had assaulted her during two sexual encounters at his Pasadena, California home in April and May 2021.

Bauer and his attorneys denied the allegations, referring to them as "fraudulent" and "baseless" in their initial statement and later filed defamation lawsuits against media companies Deadspin and The Athletic in relation to the case.

The pitcher was placed on administrative leave -- meaning he was still paid his full salary but prohibited from being around MLB facilities amid the ongoing investigation -- on July 2.

Following a four-day hearing in August, L.A. Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman dissolved a temporary restraining order and ruled that Bauer didn't pose a continual threat to the woman and that the injuries she sustained didn't result from anything she objected to during the encounter based on texts sent by the woman.

Gould-Saltman said the "injuries as shown in the photographs are terrible," but added that if the victim had "set limits and [Bauer] exceeded them, this cause would've been clear. But she set limits without considering all the consequences, and respondent did not exceed limits that the petitioner set," ESPN reports.

The Washington Post published a story days ahead of the hearing in which an Ohio woman had previously sought a temporary restraining order against Bauer and accused him of assault in June 2020.

The order -- which was tried during the pitcher's time with the Cincinnati Reds -- was dismissed six weeks later.

The 31-year-old pitcher was the 2020 Cy Young award winner, posting a league best 1.73 ERA while playing for the Reds during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Bauer had previously pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2012), Cleveland Indians (2013-19) and Reds (2020) before signing a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers during the 2021 offseason.