2018 MLB and MiLB PED Suspension Rundown

UPDATE (5/21/18): I have published an updated version of this post with more recent information. Go here to see it!

After seeing yet another tweet about a player getting a PED-related suspension cross my feed, I figured it was time to take a look at how many players have been handed suspensions before the 2018 season has even started. There are actually quite a few, and more than I thought since these things don’t seem to get a lot of press unless big-name players are involved. Here is a list of major-league and minor-league players suspended in 2018, courtesy of spotrac.com and milb.com.

Minor-League Suspensions

1. 1/12: Wilfre Delgado, RHP – CHC (72 games, Stanozolol)
2. 1/12: Antonio Police, RHP – BOS (72 games, Boldenone)
3. 1/12: Joel Romero, Free Agent RHP (80 games, Stanozolol)
4. 1/19: Tucker Baca, LHP – BAL (60 games, Dehydro-chlormethyltestosterone)
5. 1/23: Dean Deetz, RHP (MLB suspension but player with prospect eligibility) – HOU (80 games, Dehydro-chlormethyltestosterone)
6. 1/26: Ryan Newell, RHP – MIA (80 games, Dehydro-chlormethyltestosterone)
7. 1/26: Jose Santiago, RHP – SEA (140 games, Drostanolone and Oxandrolone)
8. 2/7: Raudy Read, C – WAS (80 games, Boldenone)
9. 2/8: Jake Romanski, C – BOS (100 games, amphetamine)
10. 2/8: Landon Hughes, Free Agent RHP (68 games, Dehydro-chlormethyltestosterone)
11. 2/10: Alex Cunningham, RHP – SD (50 games, amphetamine)
12. 2/16: Carlos Ventura, OF – CLE (72 games, Stanozolol)

Breakdown by Position: P – 9 ; C – 2; OF – 1

Major-League Suspensions

1. 1/22: Dean Deetz (see above)
2. 2/10: Alex Cunningham (see above)
3. 2/21: Forrest Whitley, P – HOU (50 games, unspecified PED)
4. 3/10: Jorge Bonifacio, RF – KC (80 games, Boldenone)
5. 3/18: Jorge Polanco, SS – MIN (80 games, Stanozolol)

Note: Some players listed as having suspensions due to PED violations on the spotrac.com page I consulted turned out not to be suspended for PEDs but rather other drugs upon further research, so they are not listed.

Breakdown by Position: P – 2; SS – 1; OF – 1

Breakdown by Organization for MiLB and MLB Suspensions: BAL – 1; BOS – 2; CHC – 1; CLE – 1; Free Agent – 2; HOU – 2; KC – 1; MIA – 1; MIN – 1; SD – 1; SEA – 1; WAS – 1

My Takeaways

By far and away, the position with the most PED suspensions is pitcher. This makes sense given the toll pitching takes on the body and coaches’ preference for flamethrowers over finesse pitchers. It seems the organization that is having the most problems with failed PED tests is Houston, and these suspensions are coming at the major-league level and not the minor-league level, so there is some amount of juicing going on in the defending champs’ clubhouse.