Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was arrested and charged with domestic assault early Tuesday morning in Toronto. John Lott of The Athletic tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Toronto Police had confirmed Osuna’s arrest. Toronto Police also reported the alleged victim is Osuna’s girlfriend. He has since been released from custody. The Toronto Blue Jays have released a statement acknowledging the incident but don’t want to comment any further. Osuna is on administrative leave until further notice. RHP Jake Petricka has been called up from Triple-A Buffalo to replace Osuna on the active roster.
Toronto Blue Jays Closer Roberto Osuna Charged With Assault
The Jays are scheduled to begin a 3-game set against the Seattle Mariners at Rogers Center on Tuesday. The team was set to giveaway Roberto Osuna themed t-shirts before Thursday’s game. They’ve now announced they will giveaway t-shirts with Yangervis Solarte on them instead. Blue Jays manager, John Gibbons, says he talked with Osuna Tuesday, but declined to comment on their conversation. GM Ross Atkins commented on the situation before Tuesday’s game, saying he’s “at a loss for words” over the allegations. He did state the Blue Jays are taking these charges very seriously. Osuna is scheduled to appear in court on June 18th.
Moving Forward
The Blue Jays rely heavily upon Osuna as their closer. In 15 1/3 innings pitched, he’s picked up 13 strikeouts and earned 8 saves. In April 2018, he was the youngest closer to earn his 100th save in Major League history. The Jays are now looking to other bullpen arms to fill the closer position. Tyler Clippard, Ryan Tepera, John Axford and Seunghwan Oh are all candidates to become the Jays closer in Osuna’s absence. No one knows how long the 23-year old closer will be out. Because of that the Blue Jays will need to operate their bullpen with a closer by committee approach. The Blue Jays are 19-15 and sit in third place in the American League East behind the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
Main Photo:
