Major League Baseball acknowledged Thursday that they are investigating Cubs infielder Addison Russell for domestic violence following allegations he may have abused his wife.
The investigation is coming just one day after social media posts and rumors started swirling online about the Cubs star shortstop splitting with his wife, of one year, Melisa. Russell is also not in the Cubs lineup Thursday night and is not in uniform.
The Cubs released this statement:
Cubs issue statement regarding Addison Russell pic.twitter.com/sTUlOQSIfT
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 8, 2017
And Russell released this statement to press on Thursday:
“Any allegation I have abused my wife is false and hurtful,” said Russell. “For the well-being of my family, I’ll have no further comment.”
Melisa, again, Russell’s wife, posted the following picture on Instagram during Wednesday night’s game with the following caption:
Being free to be able to make your own choices for your own happiness beats being cheated on, lied to, & disrespected any day. #herestonewbeginnings #onlygetsbetterfromhere
That post has since been deleted. Also since deleted was this added statement she posted on Twitter:
Someone who appears to be a friend of Melisa’s also made this public post:
MLB is investigating based on the aforementioned posts and is reportedly trying to interview all parties possible involved.
Whatever is happening here can’t rest easy for Cubs fans. The defending world champions are just two games above .500 and now have to answer questions regarding a possibly terrible situation. There are simply no winners in a divorce. That being said, if there were any abuse involved and MLB finds out about it, Russell could be facing a lengthy suspension.
Former Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman was suspended for 30 days last year even though domestic violence charges were legally dropped by authorities after a police investigation in Florida, and that incident involved a 911 and a fire arm.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Photo: Getty
