Orelvis Martinez: Toronto Blue Jays player suspended for 80 games for violating PED guidelines just days after his MLB debut

CNN
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Just days after his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martinez was suspended for 80 games without pay for violating the league’s doping policy.

According to MLB, the 22-year-old tested positive for clomiphene, a fertility drug that is on the league’s banned substances list.

Martinez, who made his major league debut on Friday and had his first career hit in his team’s 7-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, said he had been trying to start a family with his girlfriend for the past two years and was prescribed the clomiphene drug Rejun 50 after visiting a fertility clinic in his native Dominican Republic over the winter.

“We also wanted to keep this matter private within our family and trusted the doctor who assured us that this treatment did not involve performance-enhancing drugs,” Martinez said in the MLB Players Association statement. “That is why I made the mistake of not disclosing this to my team or the MLBPA.”

“With this in mind, I take full responsibility for my negligence and accept my suspension… I will learn from this experience and return to the field in September.”

Martinez was signed as an international free agent in 2018 and posted a .260 batting average with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs this season with the Triple-A affiliate team Buffalo Bisons.

“We were both surprised and disappointed to learn of Orelvis Martinez’s suspension,” Ross Atkins, Blue Jays executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

“We will do everything in our power to ensure Orelvis learns from this mistake. Orelvis has our support and we know he will get through this.”