Erisbel Arruebarrena‘s rehab assignment at Triple-A Albuquerque came to a violent end Saturday night, when the 24-year-old infielder incited a massive brawl in the Isotopes’ game against the Reno Aces.
Sunday, the Dodgers activated Arruebarrena from the 15-day disabled list and re-assigned him to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. The timing of the move, one day after the brawl, suggests this is more than a coincidence.
Arruebarrena had not been performing badly at Albuquerque. He hit his first Triple-A home run Saturday — his slow home run trot might have provoked Reno to begin with — and was batting .351/.410/.486. Albuquerque is playing Reno again tonight and Monday.
A source with knowledge of the situation said there is no precedent for a player on a major-league rehabilitation assignment being suspended by the Pacific Coast League. Nonetheless, the league is reviewing the incident and is expected to discipline Arruebarrena. It’s unclear whether or not he would be required to serve his suspension while playing in a different league.