Kansas City Royals: Raul Mondesi Suspension Hurts Team
By Charles Lam
Baseball’s dirty little acronym pops its ugly head up in the Kansas City Royals organization, as Raul Mondesi was suspended 50 games for failing a PED drug test.
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s) are taken by athletes knowingly and apparently sometimes unknowingly.
On May 10th, Major League Baseball (MLB) suspended Minor League shortstop/second baseman, Raul Mondesi, for testing positive to a banned substance called Clenbuterol. The suspension originally was set at 80 games but later reduced to 50.
Joel Sherman of MLB Network tweeted that the 80 games suspension was reduced by 30 games because the substance can be found in cold medication.
Mondesi failed a PED test but MLB and MLBPA reached agreement to drop from 80 to 50 Gs after he showed substance in cold medicine #Royals
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) May 10, 2016
In a statement released by Mondesi, the substance was taken unknowingly. The substance was found in his system after taking an over the counter cold medicine. He said he didn’t read the label or consult his team doctors about the medicine before taking it. Click here to read the full statement.
"“I took an over-the-counter medication [Subrox-C], which I bought in the Dominican Republic to treat cold and flu symptoms. I failed to read the labeling on the medication or consult with my trainer or team about taking it and did not know it contained a banned substance…”"
Mondesi is regarded as the Royals top minor league prospect. Kansas City has so much confindence in the young 20-year-old, they put him on the World Series roster last year. Mondesi became the first player in MLB history to make his debut during the World Series.
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This season, Mondesi’s been taking reps at AA Northwest Arkansas. The ambidextrous hitter has a slash line of .250/.304/.765 through 25 games for the Naturals.
The suspension may cause Mondesi to regress a bit. Fifty games is a lot when it comes to developing a player. During this off time, he won’t be able to hit live pitching, stunting his growth at the plate. He also won’t be able to play real defense.
This could become a major issue for the Royals down the stretch. Currently, second base is a question mark. The Royals aren’t sure who to use as the regular starter.
It looks like Omar Infante is getting old. There seems to be no life on his throws over to first causing a would be double play to not to happen. Christian Colon and Cheslor Cuthbert don’t have much major league experience playing second and that could show up on defense.
The good thing is that Mondesi is still eligible to play in the postseason for the Royals, according to MLB reporter Jesse Sanchez.
Source: Raul Mondesi (@raulmondesijr) will be eligible for 2016 MLB playoffs & 2016 tie-breaker games #Royals
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) May 10, 2016
Mondesi is eligible to return to baseball in early July.
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What do you think about the Mondesi suspension? Do you believe the what he says about unknowingly taking the substance via cold medicine? Let us know in the comments’ section below.