TORONTO – The next court date for Roberto Osuna‘s case coincides with the Houston Astros’ lone visit to Toronto this year, setting up the possibility that the 23-year-old reliever could appear in court for the first time since being charged with assault on May 8.
The appearance is tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sept. 25, five hours before the Astros face the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. A representative for Osuna, Maria Rosa Muia, declined to say whether the closer will attend next week’s court appearance.
“Mr. Osuna’s matter will be returning on Sept. 25 to be spoken to,” Muia said on the steps of Toronto’s Old City Hall courthouse Wednesday afternoon.
While deferrals are nothing new in this case, appearances in court have typically been separated by weeks rather than days. The case first appeared before the court on June 18, and court dates on July 9, Aug. 1, Sept. 5 and Sept. 19 followed.
Osuna’s lawyer, Domenic Basile, has previously said that he was hoping for a peace bond – an agreement outlining behavioural conditions for Osuna that would also include the withdrawal of the assault charge Toronto police made May 8.
If the case isn’t resolved a trial date would eventually be set. Basile has previously said that Osuna would plead not guilty in that scenario.
Major League Baseball conducted its own investigation and found enough evidence to suspend Osuna for 75 games under the MLB-MLBPA joint domestic violence policy. That represents the third-longest suspension ever issued by MLB.
The Blue Jays traded Osuna to Houston for pitchers Ken Giles, Hector Perez and David Paulino on July 30. In 19 games with the Astros, the right-hander has a 2.41 ERA with nine saves and 17 strikeouts.
The Astros have a magic number of seven to clinch the AL West and a relatively comfortable 5.0 game lead over the Oakland Athletics. Osuna will be eligible for the 2018 post-season despite his earlier suspension.
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