Mets pitcher Mejia conditionally reinstated
Cubs’ pitching prospect De La Cruz suspended 80 games
baseball
NEW YORK, July 7, (AFP): New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia, the first player issued a lifetime doping ban by Major League Baseball, will be eligible to return in 2019, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Friday.
Mejia was banished in February 2016 after a third positive test for a banned substance, but Manfred said that provided he meets certain conditions the 28-year-old Dominican will get “a final chance” at a major league career.
“Under the terms of our collectively bargained Joint Drug Program, a permanently suspended player like Mr Mejia has the right to apply to me for discretionary reinstatement after serving a minimum of two years,” Manfred said, adding that after Mejia applied for reinstatement last year they met in person.
“In light of Mr. Mejia’s contrition, his commitment to comply with the Program in the future, and the fact that he will have already spent almost four consecutive years suspended without pay, I have decided to grant Mr. Mejia a final chance to resume his professional career,” Manfred
said.
Meanwhile, Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Oscar De La Cruz was suspended for 80 games on Friday after testing positive for a banned diuretic, Major League Baseball said.
Cruz, 23, is on the Cubs’ 40-man roster and currently playing for a minor league affiliate in Tennessee.
“We are disappointed to learn today that Oscar De La Cruz has violated Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program,” the Cubs said in a statement, which added the team “fully support the Program and its efforts to remove performance enhancing drugs from the game.”
“We also expect Oscar to learn from this experience and will support him on his journey back.”
De La Cruz was 6-7 with a 5.24 earned run average in 16 starts for Double-A Tennessee.
He tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic that is banned as a potential masking agent.