Marlon Byrd suspended 162 games
Major League Baseball has suspended Cleveland Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd for his second failed drug test for performance-enhancing drugs. Byrd did not appeal the suspension and will miss the remainder of the 2016 season.
MLB announces Byrd suspension for testing positive for growth hormone secretagogue Ipamorelin, a PED.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 1, 2016
Byrd failed his first drug test back in 2012 as a member of the Boston Red Sox and served the mandatory 50 game suspension. At the time Byrd said, "I made an inexcusable mistake." adding, "I am mortified by my carelessness and apologize to everyone who loves this game as much as I do."
Now 38 years old, Byrd has been caught for the second time, and his career might be over with not many organizations eager to take a chance on an aging outfielder who is one failed drug test away from a lifetime ban from Major League baseball.
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Byrd is the second Indian and seventh overall player to be suspended this year as a result for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Marlon Byrd, who had never eclipsed the 20-home run plateau prior to 2012, hit 20-plus HRs in three consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2015 and hit nearly half of his 159 career dingers after turning 35. Byrd had seemingly found the "Fountain of Youth" in the twilight of his career, but as we have come to learn, that fountain is sometimes filled with steroids.
The 15-year veteran was hitting .270 with five HRs and 19 RBIs while playing the corners in a very thin Cleveland outfield that will now get even thinner. This is an undesirable setback for an Cleveland team that is now over .500 and seemingly trending positively.
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