Washington Nationals infielder Starlin Castro was placed on paid administrative leave last week following an alleged domestic violence incident and hasn't been with the team since.
On Tuesday, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo strongly suggested Castro won't return to the active roster this season:
Rizzo, like Martinez on Friday, spoke forcefully about Starlin Castro’s situation and the domestic violence issue across baseball and society. Said he does not plan for Castro to be back with the team this year.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 20, 2021
As noted by The Athletic, Castro went on the restricted list on June 16 due to what manager Davey Martinez referred to as a family matter. According to Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball, Martinez voiced support for the 31-year-old at that time but said this past Friday the organization does "not tolerate any kind of domestic abuse."
The Athletic reports the June situation is not believed to be related to the latest allegations against Castro.
Martinez added: "Speaking for myself, I think it’s awful, so he’s going to be on administrative leave, and then after that, they’re going to have an investigation, so I don’t know much about anything else, but he will not be with the team."
Castro was batting .283 with three home runs and 38 RBIs on the season when he was placed on leave. The Nationals began Tuesday afternoon at 44-49 and six games back of the first-place New York Mets in the National League East standings.
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