Mississippi State sophomore catcher Elih Marrero was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of driving under the influence and no insurance the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Starkville Daily News.
The arrest occurred around 4 a.m. Saturday. Marrero was released on bond.
No other details were immediately available regarding the arrest.
Marrero has played in only four games this season for the Bulldogs and hasn’t seen action since Feb. 21 due to undisclosed, off-the-field issues.
MSU head coach Andy Cannizaro said earlier this year that Marrero’s situation was already fluid.
“It’s kind of a week-to-week thing with him,” Cannizaro said of Marrero earlier this season. “There’s some things going on that are just going to keep him from being out on the field with us right now, so he needs to take care of his responsibilities and priorities away from the field, in the classroom and off the field. When we feel like as a staff and as a team he’s ready to return to the baseball field again, we’ll readdress that situation.”
As of late Sunday afternoon, Cannizaro has not issued a statement or given comment on Marrero's latest trouble.
Saturday’s arrest almost certainly will not help Marrero’s case to return to the diamond for the Bulldogs.
Marrero, to this point, has struggled mightily since arriving at MSU as a highly-regarded recruit prior to last season. In his freshman year in 2016, Marrero was the Opening Day catcher and went on to play in 43 games, getting 150 total at-bats. However, he hit just .233.
Those struggles continued in his 10 at-bats early this season as Marrero was 0-for-10.
Still, Marrero has been thought highly of by Cannizaro and many in the MSU program. It remains to be seen when, or if, Marrero will get the chance to live up to those expectations at Mississippi State.
“Certainly Elih is a talented player,” Cannizaro said earlier this year. “We could certainly use him behind the plate, but it’s bigger than baseball. It’s more important than baseball. There are things that he needs to do to earn his way back out on the field with us.”