NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent pitcher Troy Patton has been suspended for 80 games following a positive test for an amphetamine under Major League Baseball’s drug program.
The positive test was the 29-year-old left-hander’s third for an amphetamine. While with Baltimore, he was suspended for the first 25 games of the 2014 season following a second positive test. Initial positive tests are not announced and result in follow-up testing.
At the time Patton’s 25-game suspension was announced last December, he told The Sun in Baltimore that he took an Adderall pill four days before the 2013 season finished, trying to improve his short-term focus.
Patton made his first big league appearance of this year on May 1 and was traded to San Diego on May 24 for catcher Nick Hundley. Patton went a combined 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in 17 big league appearances.
He became a free agent on Oct. 1 when he refused an outright assignment to the minor leagues. His suspension will start with the first game he otherwise would be eligible to play after signing a major or minor league contract.
His penalty was the sixth this year under the big league drug program following a yearlong ban for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez; 50-game penalties for Tampa Bay pitcher Alex Colome and Seattle first baseman Ji-Man Choi; and 25-game bans for San Diego outfielder Cameron Maybin and Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
