Julio Urías’ Career Takes a Hit: Domestic Violence Charges and National Team Fallout
Julio Urías, once among the brightest stars in Major League Baseball, has watched his career come to a standstill. The left-handed pitcher, who helped the Dodgers clinch the 2020 World Series and finished third in the Cy Young Award voting in 2022, is now on the outside looking in—both in the U.S. and at home, where he risks exclusion from the Mexico national baseball team.
The trouble started in September 2023, when Urías was arrested in Los Angeles outside a soccer stadium on serious domestic violence allegations. MLB reacted fast, and what followed changed everything. The league handed Urías a massive suspension, benching him through the 2025 All-Star Break. That’s not just a slap on the wrist—it’s about 180 games, the biggest MLB ban related to personal conduct in recent years. Some insiders say his MLB suspension has virtually tossed his once-promising future into limbo.
This wasn’t Urías’ first run-in with the law. Back in 2019, he already sat out 20 games for violating the league’s same domestic violence policy. Fast forward to 2024, and things only got tougher. After being charged with several felony counts, Urías pleaded no contest to a lesser misdemeanor battery charge in April. Four other charges were dropped after he agreed to a year-long domestic violence treatment program. But these actions, while keeping him out of jail, did little to rebuild trust—either with baseball fans or with teams considering him for their rosters.
From Potential Superstar to Uncertain Future
Let’s be honest—Urías’ slide hasn’t just been about missing games. Before the September arrest, sports agents had him pegged for one of the biggest pitching contracts on the market, maybe $200 million or more. Today, he’s a free agent—unsigned, with no offers on the table. Front office execs are blunt: they don’t want the controversy, and the public scrutiny is just too much. Scouts who once raved about his poise now say nobody’s talking about his fastball or his control; they’re asking about court dates and league investigations.
All this drama has bounced back to Mexico, where Urías was once a lock for the national team. He used to be a point of pride, a player Mexican kids looked up to in Little League. But now, team officials are reconsidering his spot for upcoming major events. It’s a move that mirrors bigger questions in sports: can on-field excellence outweigh real-life issues off the field?
For now, Urías trains by himself, kept out of both MLB and international action. His suspension officially ends on July 17, 2025—if anyone is willing to take a chance on him by then. The question is: will fans, players, and leagues let him return, or has his past shut the door for good?