A police investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Pirates 3B Jung Ho Kang "will trigger the first implementation" of MLB’s new sexual assault policy, according to Bill Brink of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's office has investigated at least four players to date -- Mets SS Jose Reyes, Yankees P Aroldis Chapman, Braves 3B Hector Olivera and Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig -- "under the domestic violence portion of the agreement, and all but Puig were suspended." Kang’s case is "believed to be the first sexual assault case since the policy took effect." Manfred "can put a player such as Kang on paid administrative leave for up to seven days while investigating allegations." He can also "suspend the player with pay while a legal process unfolds, as he did with Reyes’ domestic abuse case, although Kang has not been charged with a crime." Kang remains on the active roster and was in yesterday’s lineup (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/7). In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise writes as long as Kang "hasn’t been charged with a crime, he shouldn’t be suspended, put on the reserve list or be treated any differently by the Pirates than he was last week or the week before" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/7).
FOR THE MOMENT: In Pittsburgh, Gene Collier writes the number of Pirates fans dressed in No. 27 Kang shirts at PNC Park "has multiplied dramatically over the past year," but "you can feel the disappointment in the club’s only official statement, never mind that it said essentially nothing." For the moment, Kang "is not a criminal, not on trial, not charged, not even a suspect; he’s a potential suspect." Collier: "You can hope he’s never more than that" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/7). Also in Pittsburgh, Joe Starkey writes "chances are, the Kang story goes the way of so many alleged sexual assaults: nowhere." It "becomes a case of he-said, she-said, and all we're left with are assorted facts and theories" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/7).
