As per Yahoo! Sports.
As if hearing the news that superstar Jose Bautista has to go under the knife. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced that Toronto draft pick Marcus Stroman will be suspended for 50 games after testing positive for the banned substance Methylhexaneamine. Stroman was selected 22nd overall in 2012 and was playing with the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Eastern League.
The right-hander spoke to the media regarding the ban (via The Vancouver Sun):
“Despite taking precautions to avoid violating the minor league testing program, I unknowingly ingested a banned stimulant that was in an over-the-counter supplement,” said Stroman in a statement. “Nonetheless, I accept full responsibility and I want to apologize to the Toronto Blue Jays organization, my family, my teammates, and the Blue Jays fans everywhere.
Stroman was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA and eight strikeouts in eight relief appearances for the Fisher Cats. I guess we won’t be seeing him for a September cameo when major league rosters expand. Hopefully this is a one-time incident and not indicative of past behaviour or a reason for his success thus far in his short baseball career in college and the pros.
I was just telling someone that I expect ‘step back seasons’ in the rebuilding process. You know, win 75 games, improve with better players and more experience, then win 80, then ‘step back’ to 75 wins because of injuries or whatever. I’m not aware of anything like this, though. Perhaps the A’s of the late 60s/early 70s furnish an example, but I’d have to check.
Absolutely agree, the path to becoming a contender is not linear. Fans will be jumping off the ship seeing the step back record wise the team has taken but really what else was going to happen given the injuries this season?
It’s never 75, 80, 84, 88, 90+ etc – look at Tampa Bay. Suddenly your roster just has the talent to win and you can jump 10-15 wins.