The Addison Russell domestic violence allegations have resurfaced

The domestic violence allegations against Addison Russell resurfaced late Thursday night. As the Cubs begin their last three series of the regular season they will be faced with a decision about how to handle much more robust accusations against their shortstop.

Last June, Melisa Reidy posted on Instagram after separating from Addison. A friend of hers commented on the post and that comment included allegations of physical and emotional abuse. The Instagram post was later deleted. The Cubs gave Addison a few days off and MLB announced it would investigate the allegations. It was a difficult case to evaluate given the post deletions and the lack of a report from MLB.

According to Bill Baer at NBC Sports, after last year’s allegations MLB started an investigation but Melisa was uncooperative. As a result, “Addison was not punished, there was no report and the issue mostly went away.” Some possible reasons for her lack of cooperation are noted here.

On September 19 Melisa posted a first-hand account with much more detail of her experiences while she was married to Addison. She also linked them to her Instagram account.

At this point I think the best thing I can do is post a link to Melisa’s words, and while I encourage you to read in their entirety, I also want to be clear that her post may be difficult to read if you have any experience with domestic violence or abuse. Take care of yourself before reading the post or the comments.

Given the lack of transparency surrounding the original MLB investigation it is impossible for the public to know what they’ve already considered and what is new in this post. However, these allegations are serious and there are already calls for the Cubs and MLB to suspend Addison Russell while that investigation is completed. He won’t be playing this afternoon on the South Side of Chicago. I will post an update as soon as we have more information.