Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported that Atlanta Braves right-hander Arodys Vizcaino will be suspended for 80 games of the upcoming season after violating Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. MLB subsequently confirmed the suspension and that Vizcaino tested positive for Stanozolol, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
Sports medicine expert Will Carroll provided some brief background on the drug itself:
Vizcaino has appeared in 22 major league games, pitching 22.1 innings while compiling a 1-1 record and a 4.84 earned run average. The 24-year-old is listed as the 13th-best prospect in the Braves’ system on MLB.com:
Vizcaino’s career has been hindered by injuries to this point. He had a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in 2010 that didn’t require surgery but then had to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery for a separate elbow injury two years later.
Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors examined how this suspension will carry significant ramifications for Vizcaino’s future:
The suspension is particularly detrimental to Vizcaino due to service time implications. While he was slated to start the season in the Minors, Vizcaino has two years, 77 days of Major League service time, meaning he needed just 95 days of big league service to reach three total years and somewhere in the vicinity of 53 days to put him on the bubble of Super Two status. Both of those distinctions will be difficult to reach now, as he’ll sit out half the season and would likely need to prove himself in the Minors following that suspension before warranting consideration at the Major League level.
Although Vizcaino isn’t a member of the Braves’ active roster, it’s likely that before the suspension, he would have seen the big leagues again during the 2015 season. There’s no telling at this point whether those plans will have changed.
He’s listed on Atlanta’s 40-man roster but missed out on starting the year in the bullpen after getting sent down to the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate earlier in the week.
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