Fernando Tatis Jr.’s father has backed his son’s claim that he violated Major League Baseball’s drug policy because of a steroid in ringworm medication and called it a “disaster ” that the San Diego Padres the superstar’s reputation was tarnished because of it.
Fernando Tatis Sr., who played in the major leagues for 11 seasons, told ‘The Midday Show’ in his native Dominican Republic on Monday that Tatis Jr. used the drug Trofobol to treat ringworm that appeared on the side of his neck. . , a photo of which had previously been posted on her mother’s Instagram page. The drug, not sold in the United States, is a spray used to treat skin conditions, namely scars and burns. The label lists clostebol, the anabolic steroid for which Tatis Jr. tested positive, and neomycin, an antibiotic, as its two main ingredients.
Tatis was handed an 80-game suspension on Friday after testing positive for clostebol, ruling him out of the Padres’ final 48 regular-season games and regardless of their progress in the playoffs, if they make it. The remainder of the suspension will be served at the start of the 2023 season. The discipline came as Tatis was in the final stages of his recovery from the left wrist injury he suffered during the offseason in what the it was believed to be a motorcycle accident in December.
These two incidents, coupled with the 14-year, $340 million extension he signed in February 2021, have raised serious concerns about the 23-year-old shortstop’s reliability and drawn strong comments from key members of the Padres, including general manager AJ Preller, who hinted at trust issues while speaking with battered reporters last week from Washington, D.C.
Tatis Sr. acknowledged that his son erred in not realizing the drug contained a steroid, a direct violation of the drug policy jointly agreed to between MLB and the players’ association, but added that it “could have been handled better” by the league, without going into detail.
“I don’t think there was any reason to destroy a player’s image for something as minor as that,” he told ‘The Midday Show’ in Spanish.
Later, Tatis Sr. added, “This is a disaster that has happened, not just for Jr., but for all of baseball. There are millions of fans who are going to stop watching baseball now. C “It’s a complete disappointment to Dominican fans, fans around the world, for something so insignificant that wasn’t worth it. It’s topical. What came out positive in Jr.’s body. is something that does not give you strength, first of all, does not amplify your [weight-training] diet, it’s second, has no testosterone, it’s third, contains absolutely nothing that would give you an advantage in the game. What happened is a disaster for baseball.”
Clostebol is indeed a derivative of testosterone and it is an anabolic steroid that has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Dee Gordon and Freddy Galvis have previously been suspended for testing positive for the substance by MLB, which has listed clostebol as a banned substance since its drug testing program began in 2003.
Tatis Jr. is the first player in major league history with 80 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the first 300 games of his career, but he will have played only 273 of a possible 546 regular season games by the end of the season. end of 2022. He missed the final seven weeks of the 2019 season due to a stress reaction in his lower back and has spent all of 2021 dealing with a troublesome left shoulder that has often held him down. away from training.
His one-year absence in 2022, however, was the product of factors that were apparently well within his control. And it comes at the worst possible time for the franchise, which has laid bare its farming system in order to acquire John Soto and raised his payroll to all-time highs while chasing his first championship. In a lengthy statement released on Friday, Tatis said he briefly considered appealing the suspension before deciding whether to serve the sentence, adding that he was “completely devastated” by the circumstances.
Tatis Sr. told “The Midday Show” that he and his son plan to travel to several leagues across the Dominican Republic to explain their version of events to young baseball players.
“There’s something no one can ever take away: the grace with which Fernando plays the game,” Tatis Sr. said. “There’s no human being who can ever take that away.”