Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have unfortunately been a major part of professional athletics for many years. The PED problem has hit Major League Baseball especially hard over the years. Steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) have really tainted the great game of baseball, as it now seems that anytime a great power hitter emerges it is automatically assumed by many that they are on steroids or some other PED.
Although, in the recent past the MLB has done well in fighting steroids. Ever since the days of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and the other major steroid and HGH users, the MLB has done a solid job of cracking down on PEDs. Up to this point, it would seem that there really aren’t many PEDs that can’t be exposed with a drug test. However, with some astounding news being revealed, the question becomes is MLB about to lose control of substance abuse in the game?
That’s right, there is a new drug on the market that is not detectable by any PED tests.
It’s called Mechano Growth Factor (MGF), and it is already available for sale. In fact, it was available in Sochi for the Winter Olympics. MGF is specifically used in situations where an athlete needs to build up leg muscle. The use of MGF could become an epidemic among MLB players who are recovering from lower-body injuries, as well as pitchers who need a little more drive in their legs to reach higher fastball speeds, or hitters who feel that they need more lower-body strength to increase their power.
This drug is not completely unknown by authorities, as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is already aware of this drug, and it has been reported to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). However, according to Bleacher Report, nothing else has been done by authorities to try to stop this drug from being sold and used by professional athletes. In addition to that, MGF is cheap, and easy to find. Bleacher Report found that MGF is going for about $50 per-vial.
As a huge baseball fan, this news is bothersome. I am a fan of the guys who work hard, put their nose to the grindstone and get to the top on their own, without help from steroids or other PEDs (or abuse of these substances). I would have to believe that many baseball fans agree with me, cheating the game of baseball shouldn’t be acceptable. An undetectable drug running through professional baseball could cause more scandals than we have ever seen before from the so-called steroid era. There doesn’t seem to be any test coming through that will allow MLB to find evidence of MGF use, and that is very troubling for baseball fans who want to see the game played fairly.
With this drug already being for sale throughout the world of sports, all we can do now is hope that the MLB will find a way to stop this before it turns into something dangerous.
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