Melvin Garcia, a 33rd round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2010 draft has been suspended for 50 games after allegedly testing positive for “an amphetamine, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program,” according to milb.com.
Garcia is now the third Blue Jay prospect to succumb to a failed test this year.
19-year-old Garcia has two years of professional experience under his belt, and by the look of things, his situation can only get worse before it gets better.
In nearly two full seasons, Garcia is batting a scanty .195 with a .275 OBP and .282 SLG. While obviously still in the development stages of his young career, not much sign of power is relevant at this point (2 home runs and 6 doubles).
He originally grabbed tons of attention from the Jays after his phenomenal season at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, N.Y. Garcia was going to attend Wharton Community College in Texas, at least until the Jays took notice.
The suspension is set to kick in at the beginning of next season and then we will truly see what Garcia is made of. Will he let this haunt him for the rest of his career or can he admit that this was a huge mistake and move forward?
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective, a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals& Gateway Grizzlies and is now an independent scout.
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