WASHINGTON – The Tres Barrera Nationals receiver was suspended Saturday for 80 games without pay by Major League Baseball after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
MLB said Barrera, a 25-year-old player who made his major league debut last September, tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), the chemical compound used in a drug that fueled Olympic athletes in the old East German decades ago.
Berrera’s suspension is another element in a turbulent opening to Washington’s defense of its 2019 World Series championship.
Hours before the Nationals lost their first rain-shortened game of the pandemic season with the New York Yankees on Thursday night, star slugger Juan Soto was included on the COVID-19 disabled list because he tested positive. by the coronavirus.
Barrera said Saturday that he appealed his suspension, but a referee confirmed it.
“From the failed initial drug test to losing the appeal, this has been a complete surprise, as I have never done it, and I will never knowingly use a prohibited substance,” Barrera said in a statement released by the gamer association.
“I have worked very hard and have given too much to this sport to disrespect or deceive the game I love. I would never do anything to dishonor my family, teammates and coaches or do anything to disappoint the many young players who look it depends on me.”
Barrera was on Washington’s 40-man roster and part of his 60-man player pool.
He appeared in two games in 2019 and was not a member of the postseason roster as the Nationals won the franchise’s first title.
Barrera was selected by the Nationals in the sixth round of the 2016 University of Texas Amateur Draft.
He is the seventh player suspended this year under the major league drug program, slightly less than last year’s total.
Washington was slated to host the Yankees in the second game of its three-game series that will open the season in National Park on Saturday night.
.
