Jimmy Cordero, a relief pitcher for the Yankees, has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, the league and the team announced on Wednesday.
Rob Manfred, the M.L.B. commissioner, said on Wednesday that after an investigation, Cordero had accepted a suspension for the rest of the 2023 regular season and the playoffs. Manfred said that Cordero had violated the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, without providing details about what prompted the investigation and what part of the policy Cordero had violated.
Cordero, a 31-year-old journeyman right-hander who is earning a league minimum salary, was placed on the restricted list on Wednesday.
The Yankees said in a statement on Wednesday that the team was “fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s investigative process and the disciplinary action applied to Jimmy Cordero.”
“There is no justification for domestic violence,” the Yankees said.
Cordero could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. His Instagram page appeared to be inactive on Wednesday.
As part of the league’s domestic violence policy, Cordero will undergo a “confidential and comprehensive evaluation” and participate in a treatment program, the league said.
Before Wednesday night’s game between the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles in New York, Manager Aaron Boone addressed Cordero’s suspension with reporters.
“It’s sad. Your heart goes out to everyone involved,” Boone said, adding that he did not have details about the investigation. “I don’t know what went down.”
Boone said the team had been recently informed that M.L.B. was investigating Cordero, but that the Yankees were not provided any additional details. Boone noted that the policy is designed to keep specific details of an investigation out of the public eye.
Cordero had not pitched for the Yankees since Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Boone said the investigation had not played a role in Cordero’s playing time.
Cordero made his major league debut in August 2018 with the Washington Nationals after several years in the minor leagues. Since then, he has bounced around the league and the minors, pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago White Sox.
The Yankees signed Cordero to a minor league contract in March 2022 and invited him to spring training. Cordero spent 2022 pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ top minor league affiliate.
Cordero began pitching for the Yankees this year after the team picked up his contract from the RailRiders, and he had been a reliable presence in the Yankees bullpen this season, with an E.R.A. of 3.86 and 34 strikeouts in fewer than 32 ⅔ innings pitched.
With Cordero suspended for the rest of the year, the Yankees called up the right-handed pitcher Randy Vásquez from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán, who threw a perfect game last week, was suspended for 81 games in 2020 following a domestic abuse investigation.
Jesus Jiménez is a general assignment reporter. More about Jesus Jiménez
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