Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martinez, who was recently called up to the majors, was suspended for 80 games on Sunday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Martinez tested positive for Clomiphene, the team announced. He made his Major League debut on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians.
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"For the past two years, I have been trying to start a family with my girlfriend. During the offseason, we visited a fertility clinic in the Dominican Republic and after getting lab work done, we were prescribed a treatment, which included a medication called Rejun 50," Martinez said in a statement through the MLB Players Association.
"Unfortunately, Rejun 50 contains a banned substance called Clomiphene. We wanted to keep this matter private, even within our family, and trusted the doctor who assured us this treatment did not include performance-enhancing drugs. Therefore, I made the mistake of not disclosing this to my team or the MLBPA. With that said, I took full responsibility for my actions and accepted my suspension."
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Martinez, 22, was an international signing from the Dominican Republic in 2018. He quickly moved up the Blue Jays’ farm system as he was ranked as high as 75th in Baseball America’s prospect rankings.
He played in 63 games for Triple-A Buffalo, hitting 16 home runs and batting .260.
"The Blue Jays fully support Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and strongly believe in keeping the game on a level playing field," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said.
"We were both surprised and disappointed to learn of Orelvis Martínez suspension. We will do everything in our power to ensure Orelvis has learned from this mistake."
He’s set to lose about half of his salary. He was making $740,000 in the majors and $120,600 in the minors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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