Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspended 80 Games for Use of PED

Major League Baseball announced Friday, Aug. 12th that San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. has been suspended without pay after testing positive for Clostebol, a performance enhancing drug banned by MLB via multiple sources, including ESPN.

His 80-game suspension is effective immediately, thus he will not be finishing the major league season.

Tatis claims his positive result was due to the medication he was taking to treat ringworm, and apologizes for not being aware that the medication contained Clostebol.

He says in his statement concerning the suspension, "It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol. I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so".

According to multiple sources, Tatis will be put on the restricted list for the final 48 games of the Padres' regular season, and will be ineligible for any postseason games played. The rest of his suspension will be served at the beginning of the 2023 baseball season.

Below is the full statement made by Tatis concerning his 80-game suspension:

Tatis suffered a broken left wrist due to a motorcycle crash in December, and didn't have surgery done on it in until March. He missed the first four months of the baseball season. He was sent to complete a rehab assignment with the minor leagues until this suspension. Padres general manager A.J. Preller expressed his disappointment on the suspension, and told reporters that the the team was hoping to see more maturity from Tatis: "We were hoping that from the offseason to now that there would be some maturity, and obviously with the news today, it's more of a pattern... I'm sure he's very disappointed, but at the end of the day, it's one thing to say it. You've got to start showing by your actions".

Additionally, Padres pitcher Mike Cleavinger and third baseman Manny Machado express their disappointment on the matter:

ESPN writes that the suspension will cost Tatis $2.9 million at max, and he will have to forfeit $1,510,989 of his $5 million salary this year, covering the final 55 days and 48 games of the season. It is also said that he will lose about $1.39 million of his $7 million salary for the first 32 games of next season.