The MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program have suspended Blue Jays first baseman, Chris Colabello, for 80 games for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance. It is reported that the banned substance is dehydroclormethyltestosterone, which is an oral steroid know as Turinabol. It aids in muscular endurance as well as greatly enhancing the recovery rate of the athlete. It was used predominately in East Germany’s doping program. Colabello is batting .069 this year with 0 homeruns and 1 RBI. He burst onto the scene last year and had a career year batting .321 with 15 homeruns and 54 RBIs over the course of 101 games. He also played a major role in Toronto’s playoff run. He is immediately suspended without pay for the next 80 games.
Colabello has released a statement saying: Chris Colabello’s statement, exclamation point and all, after his positive test and subsequent 80-game suspension: pic.twitter.com/EAB2VHUgZ9
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) April 22, 2016
This comes as a shock to most Blue Jay fans who were very pleasantly surprised by Colabello in 2015. He played an increasingly large role on the team as the season wore on and had a good playoff series against the Texas Rangers batting .375 with a homerun and 2 RBIs. His suspension leaves a hole in the Blue Jays lineup that will need to be addressed either within the organization or via trade. Don’t expect the Jays to go out and find a replacement as both Justin Smoak and Edwin Encarnacion are first basemen currently on the roster. You also have Jose Bautista who can play first base.
The Jays have called up Drew Hutchinson to fill the roster spot and he will start Sunday. Hutchinson was the opening day starter for the Blue Jays in 2015 but struggled with an ERA of 5.57 and lost his starting spot this year to Aaron Sanchez despite pitching well during the Spring.
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