New York Mets relief pitcher Jenrry Mejia received a permanent suspension from Major League Baseball on Friday after his third performance-enhancing drug violation.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post passed along the news and noted the latest failed test was for Boldenone.
John Thorn, the official historian for Major League Baseball, confirmed Mejia joins former Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose as the only living players banned from the game.
Adam Rubin of ESPN.com provided the Mets’ reaction:
“I’m going to appeal, Mejia told Dominican reporter Hector Gomez in Spanish, per Rubin. Lose or win, I have great faith. I have to clear my name. I will take this case to the ultimate consequences. It is not like they say. I am sure that I did not use anything.”
Mejia received all three suspensions over the past year. MLB originally suspended him for 80 games in April. Less than a month after returning to action, he received a 162-game ban following his second positive test in July.
Anthony Rieber of Newsday noted Mejia claimed after the first PED suspension that he had “no idea” how a banned substance ended up in his system.
The 26-year-old reliever had been an asset for New York on the field. He posted a 3.68 ERA with 162 strikeouts in 183.1 innings across 113 career appearances, including 18 starts. He didn’t give up any runs in seven games between suspensions last season.
He would have been eligible to return around the midway point of the 2016 season after serving the full-season suspension. Instead, he’s banned permanently.
The Mets bullpen shouldn’t suffer a major drop-off without him. The group ranked 11th in the big leagues with a 3.48 ERA last season despite his limited contributions. Jeurys Familia, Addison Reed and Antonio Bastardo are likely to handle the high-leverage situations.
With that said, it’s hard to understand how a promising career could come to such a sudden halt in a 10-month span.
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