photo: Cardinals Dominican Academy (St. Louis Cardinals)
On Wednesday, the Office of the Commissioner announced that St. Louis Cardinals farmhand Nathanael Heredia has been suspended 72 games without pay under Major League Baseball’s minor league drug program as the result of a positive test for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance. This news was first reported by the Associated Press.
The left-handed pitcher, 17 years of age, has yet to make his mound debut after signing his initial professional contract this January 10. Heredia, 6-foot-3, 170 pounds, hails from Hato Mayor del Rey, Dominican Republic and was on the roster of the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Cardinals.
In each of the last five years, since 2014, the Cardinals organization had exactly two drug suspensions per year. However, Heredia is St. Louis’ second suspension in the last two weeks, following Triple-A pitcher Matt Pearce’s 50-game sanction announced on March 23.
St. Louis’ last player suspension for Stanozolol specifically was back in 2012. It is a bodybuilding anabolic steroid that was reportedly more popular with ballplayers in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
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