Red Sox talent suspended due to positive PED test

The Boston Red Sox organization received bad news on Friday: One of their minor league pitchers, Charlie Zink, was suspended by the MLB for 56 games due to a positive doping test.

Zink, 18, was signed as an international free agent out of Willemstad, Curacao in December. A right-handed starter, he appeared in four games for the Dominican Summer League Red Sox, posting an 8.53 ERA and 1.89 WHIP and striking out five players.

Boston’s farm system already has a shortage of talented young pitchers, so any pitcher who loses development time at this point will negatively impact the team.