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San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and was suspended 80 games, a punishment that ends his 2022 season, Major League Baseball announced Friday.
In a statement, the 23-year-old parador said he inadvertently treated ringworm with a medication containing the banned substance Clostebol and that, after initially appealing the sentence, he decided to dismiss the appeal.
“I should have used the resources available to me to make sure there were no prohibited substances in what I took. I didn’t,” Tatis said in his statement. “I have no excuse for my mistake and I would never do anything to cheat or disrespect this game that I love.”
Tatis had yet to appear in a game this season due to a wrist injury suffered in a motorcycle accident in the offseason. He will be ineligible to play for the Padres if they make the postseason. San Diego is 16 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, but would own the NL’s third wild-card spot if the season ended Friday.
“We were shocked and very disappointed to learn that Fernando Tatis Jr. tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program and was subsequently suspended for 80 games without pay,” the Padres said in a statement. “We fully support the program and hope Fernando learns from this experience.”
League policy dictates that clubs don’t receive notification of a player’s positive test until the day that player is added to the restricted list, so the Padres didn’t know Tatis had tested positive when they drafted an agreement to trade the franchise to acquire Juan. Washington Nationals basement at the trade deadline.
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At the time, that deal seemed like overkill for a team that was struggling with its young superstar, Tatis, preparing to return from a career-high injury. In retrospect, Soto and Josh Bell will fill in for much-needed production as the Padres try to make the long October run they and general manager AJ Preller have sought for the better part of the last decade.
Now Soto and Bell will anchor a Padres lineup that still contains Manny Machado, a formidable heart of the order who looked poised to dominate down the stretch but hasn’t yet been: San Diego is 3-5 since being traded for Basement, including a sweep. at the hands of the Dodgers last week.
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When Tatis has been healthy in the big leagues, he’s been explosive. Last season, despite battling a shoulder injury down the stretch, he led the league with 42 home runs as a 22-year-old. He was an MVP candidate for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
But after battling a shoulder problem late in 2021, Tatis returned from the lockout with a new problem, one that his team had been unable to resolve while the players negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement: It had broken the wrist in a motorcycle accident. His return had been slower than some had expected, but it seemed likely that it would come soon. It won’t be back until 2023.
This is a developing story that has been updated.