Nats’ Jayson Werth charged in July 6 reckless driving incident
Back in July, Washington Nationals’ right fielder Jayson Werth was pulled over for speeding. Actually it was reckless driving. Going 105 mph in a 55 mph zone is most definitely reckless. I just have one question for Werth. Didn’t you learn anything from Yasiel Puig?
Puig was arrested not once but twice in 2013 for reckless driving first in April and again in December. Many attributed to Puig’s youth and the new surroundings he was adjusting to having recently defected from Cuba to come play baseball in the United States. It seems pretty, well, not all that bright to get caught twice in the same year.
To his credit, after the second arrest Puig hired his cousin to drive him around. That’s a reasonable and responsible reaction for a 23-year old, although I doubt he would have been issued a driver’s license, in California anyway, after the two incidents but hiring a driver is a much better idea than simply driving without a license.
Jayson Werth on the other hand should have learned from what happened to Puig for one thing and for another he’s over a decade older than Puig. The 35-year old right fielder was caught speeding on July6, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post and charged with a misdemeanor.
His court appearance was set for August 8 but has been continued until November 12 when the season will have concluded and it will no longer matter if the Nationals were to make it to the World Series or not. According to Kilgore the team is remaining rather tight lipped on the subject issuing just a simple statement via email,
"“The Washington Nationals have been in communication with right fielder Jayson Werth regarding this situation for multiple weeks. Jayson is cooperating with the authorities. As it is an ongoing legal matter, the team has no further comment.”"
Ok, when Puig was arrested we heard directly from the President of the Los Angeles Dodgers Stan Kasten, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. I guess every organization has the right to handle their own internal affairs in their own way but it is interesting that now that the information is public that they have issued just the one statement. No comments from Werth have become available yet either.
We won’t find out what the verdict is on Werth until after the postseason so no need to speculate on it now. A former All-Star for the Philadelphia Phillies, Werth has a career slash line of .274/.367/.467 over 12 seasons.