Pirates right-hander Edgar Santana has been suspended for 80 games for violating the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, as per a league press release. Santana tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone, and will now miss the entire 2020 season as well as the first 20 games of the 2021 campaign.
Santana posted a 3.31 ERA, 3.08 K/BB rate, and 7.9 K/9 over 84 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh in 2017-18, all as a relief pitcher. This promising beginning to his big league career was cut short by Tommy John surgery in September 2018, which sidelined him for the entire 2019 campaign.
During Spring Training, Santana appeared to be in good form returning from that long layoff, tossing five scoreless innings in Grapefruit League action prior to the league shutdown. There was plenty of opportunity for a healthy Santana to re-establish himself in the Pirates’ bullpen and set himself up for his first arbitration-eligible year in 2021, though he’ll now his service clock stalled while also forfeiting his salary for the 2020 season.
yikes, suspensions really kill right now
Pirates going 10-60
I will bet you any amount you’d be willing to wager that you are wrong. Any amount, just name it…..
tough to do in a 60 game season. But I agree, simply no way they can overcome the loss of Santana
Shhh…..I’m trying to make a can’t lose bet here…..
This pretty much eliminates any miracle the Pirates had coming this year…..and most likely in my lifetime.
As a Pirates fan, I actually can’t wait to see just how bad their team ERA can be in 60 games.
Yet another Dominican player testing positive with a PED.. Sad cause he would have been counted on this season at some point
Pirates need to bring back Felipe Vazquez. He was dominant (in more ways than one 😉 the last few years. Could really use that late inning experience and clubhouse leader.
Nice try at trolling.
Big swing and a miss. Zero humor.
At this point, pull Steve Blass out of retirement. Can’t be any worse
Yikes