Former Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sam Dyson is being investigated by Major League Baseball for domestic violence, according to Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang of The Athletic.
The reported investigation stems from two Instagram posts made by Dyson’s now ex-girlfriend, Alexis Blackburn, in the past week. Blackburn doesn’t directly accuse Dyson of abuse in either post, but strongly alludes to it.
The first post appeared on Blackburn’s personal Instagram two days ago. She alluded to having endured “bullying,” and mentioned having to constantly apologize in “every conversation.”
I am broken though. I’ve allowed my physical health, my emotional health, and my mental health to diminish to nothing. I’ve allowed more things to happen than I want to admit. I don’t know who this girl is right now because this hasn’t been me. I haven’t been me in so long. I’ve allowed myself to use the word “sorry” in every conversation whether I did something wrong or not. I’ve allowed myself to ignore red flags and bad in people because I loved them. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed of the current me because I know I didn’t do this to myself. I didn’t make me hate me. But what I can tell my family, friends, and the world is I am on the road to recovery and loving myself again. I’ve closed a chapter in my life. This has been the hardest decision I have ever made, but I have to put myself before anyone else. I’m proud of myself. It takes strength and courage to speak and stand up for what’s right. Strong people seek help. Strong people encourage others to seek help. They don’t tell you to get over it, figure it out, and you sound pathetic. Weak people don’t seek help. Weak people make excuses for their behavior. Weak people bully others. Weak people blame others for their own insecurities. So for those who think I am weak andand not good enough, you are correct. The old me was weak because I couldn’t stand up for myself because if I did I was “opinionated.” I lost my voice somewhere along the way, but I was always “good enough.” I was always beautiful. I was always willing to “fix” myself to be perfect. Then I had to tell myself perfection doesn’t exist.
The second post appeared on Tuesday on the account Blackburn runs in the voice of her cat, Snuckles. In that post, Blackburn posted a photo of Snuckles on top of a cardboard play house, a photo of the house smashed to pieces, and included a paragraph in Snuckles’ voice describing someone yelling and throwing things at the cat.
According to Rosenthal and Strang, MLB will interview Blackburn “in the near future” as part of its investigation.
This is not the first time MLB has investigated an allegation of domestic abuse that first appeared on social media, even when the player himself wasn’t named. MLB investigated Addison Russell of the Chicago Cubs in 2018 after his ex-wife published a blog post that described suffering years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband. She did not directly name Russell in that post, but after the investigation MLB suspended Russell for 40 games in 2018 and 2019 and Russell publicly apologized.
Dyson, 31, is currently a free agent. He’s pitched 8 seasons in the majors, almost exclusively as a reliever, and has played for five different teams.
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