Baseball Player Cut Following Release of Video of Domestic Violence Incident

Danry Vasquez was let go by his independent league team after the release of the violent video.

A former Astros prospect has been released after the emergence of a shocking video in which he is seen beating his girlfriend. 

Danry Vasquez, a 24-year-old outfielder from Venezuela, was arrested in August 2016 on domestic violence charges and released by the team. He was playing for the Double A Corpus Christi Hooks at the time of his arrest. 

Charges against Vasquez were dismissed after completed the terms of a plea deal, which included taking classes and paying a fine, Nueces Couty district attorney Mark Gonzalez told Corpus Christi NBC affiliate KRIS.

The station also obtained video of the incident, captured by a security camera in a stairwell at the Hooks’ home stadium. In the video, which can be seen at the top of this page, Vasquez repeatedly strikes the woman and drags her down the stairs. 

After the video was published, the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League announced they had released Vasquez. 

“Upon being made aware of the nature of the incident, the Barnstormers made a prompt decision to cut ties with the 24-year old outfielder,” the team said in a statement.

The “nature of the incident” was well publicized before the Barnstormers signed Vasquez in January, though. A simple Google search would have turned up dozens of news stories about his arrest. 

Vasquez “allegedly struck his girlfriend multiple times,” the Associated Press reported at the time of his arrest.

“Officers tell us that back in August, Vasquez allegedly backhanded his girlfriend three times in a stairwell at Whataburger Field,” KZTV reported in January 2017. 

Vasquez played two seasons in the Venezuelan winter league after his release by the Astros, batting .241 with four homers and 31 RBIs in 100 games. 

“Danry is a guy whose name I got from someone in winter ball,” Lancaster manager Ross Peeples said when the Vasquez signing was announced. “After talking with several other people about him, I am very excited to bring him in. He was a prospect a few years ago and is still pretty young. I am excited to see what he can do in our ballpark.”

After the release of the video, though, Peeples decided the team had to let Vasquez go. 

“There is no choice but to sever the relationship,” Peeples said in a statement. “Neither I, nor the Barnstormers’ organization as a whole, can condone or associate with that behavior.”