Pirates Pitcher Felipe Vazquez to Remain in Jail on Sexual Assault Charges, Bond Denied

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez will remain in jail after he was denied bond for his charges of sexual assault on a minor according to CBS Pittsburgh. Vazquez arrived at his arraignment in handcuffs on Wednesday and will remain in the Westmoreland County Jail until his next hearing, which will be on Oct. 9. Vazquez’s attorneys did not pursue bond and both parties agreed that “no bond” would be the best for everyone. When reporters asked Vazquez’s attorney why they didn’t challenge the “no bond” decision, he said it would not be “appropriate” to comment.

Vazquez was arrested earlier this month for his alleged sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl. The incident happened on August 2017 and when Vazquez was interviewed by police, he reportedly admitted to the crime when he said it was “sex but not really.” The report went into detail about the encounter that happened on the driveway of the girl’s house in Scottdale which is just southeast of Pittsburgh.

The girl’s family then moved to Florida and that is when the girl’s mother found out that she and Vazquez were still communicating with each other. The mother then called the authorities, which led to the arrest of the veteran pitcher.

Vazquez, who is the team’s closer, has been with the Pirates since 2016 after spending his first year and a half with the Washington Nationals. This year Vazquez had a 5-1 record with an ERA of 1.65. His production in 2019 led to him being named to the All-Star team. He was named to his first All-Star game in 2018 when he recorded a 4-2 record with an ERA of 2.70. Vazquez posted 89 strikeouts and allowed four home runs in 70 innings of work.

Once the news of Vazquez broke, the Pirates had a team meeting to talk about the situation.

“These allegations are very, very serious,” pitcher Chris Archer said shortly after the meeting ended via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Sporting News. “The term that was used earlier was heinous. Again, right now, as far as we know, they’re just allegations. There’s not a lot we can say.”

Archer went on to say the team hopes it can be resolved quickly so everyone can move on.

“We’re human beings. You can feel it in your stomach,” he said. “There’s definitely an uneasiness. We’ve addressed it, so that feels a little bit better. For the sake of the family, for the sake of the organization and for the sake of Felipe, we hope this gets resolved. We can all put it behind us as soon as possible.”