Positive test costs Marte 80 games

NEW YORK — Pirates All-Star outfielder Starling Marte was suspended for 80 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The league said Tuesday that Marte tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone. He will be eligible to return in mid-July.

Marte was an All-Star for the first time in 2016 and moved from left field to center in the offseason after winning his second Gold Glove. The 28-year-old from the Dominican Republic is batting .241 with two home runs and seven RBIs this season.

Marte said in a statement that “neglect and lack of knowledge led to this mistake.”

“With much embarrassment and helplessness, I ask for forgiveness for unintentionally disrespecting so many people who have trusted in my work and have supported me so much,” he said. “I promise to learn the lesson that this ordeal has left me.”

Pirates President Frank Coonelly said he was “disappointed that Starling put himself, his teammates and the organization in this position.”

Barring postponements, Marte would be eligible to return for the July 18 home game against the Brewers and lose 91 days’ pay from his $5 million salary, which comes to $2,486,339. Under a change to baseball’s drug agreement in collective bargaining during the offseason, he doesn’t get paid on off days during the ban. Under the old agreement, he would have lost 80 days’ pay, which would have amounted to $2,185,782.

Another change in the drug agreement means Marte is ineligible for the 2017 postseason if the Pirates advance.

It’s a task made considerably harder with Marte out of the mix for the next three months.