Matt Bush, No. 1 MLB draft pick and former Rangers reliever, charged with drunk driving after accident

Matt Bush, a No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft who spent six seasons in the majors, was arrested Friday in Arlington, Texas, and charged with drunken driving, evading arrest and accident causing injury.

Tim Ciesco, media relations coordinator for Arlington police, said in an email that Bush, 38, fled from a police officer who tried to pull him over for erratic driving, resulting in a person with non-life-threatening injuries. Police allege Bush ran a red light and collided with a truck traveling through the intersection, and the force of the impact caused Bush to collide with two other vehicles stopped at the light. Bush fled the scene on foot before being chased by bystanders and arrested, Ciesco said.

He refused a field sobriety test and refused to speak to investigators, who later obtained a warrant for a blood sample, according to Ciesco. After being released by medical staff, he was released from the hospital and taken to the Arlington city jail where he was arraigned on the three charges, Ciesco said, before being transferred to the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth on Monday.

Bush, whom the San Diego Padres selected No. 1 overall in 2004, previously spent 39 months in prison for a drunken-driving incident that seriously injured a 72-year-old man in 2012.

Bush was originally drafted by San Diego as a shortstop. After a fight in an Arizona bar in 2004, he was suspended before his professional debut.

San Diego converted Bush to a pitcher in 2007 but designated him for assignment in 2009 after an alleged attack on two high school lacrosse players.

Bush was released from prison in February 2015 and signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. He made his MLB debut in 2016 at age 30 and spent three seasons in Texas before arm injuries kept him out of MLB action until 2021. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022 and then rejoined the Rangers in July 2023. However, he never appeared in another game with Texas and received a World Series ring after the team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks that fall.

(Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)