Fernando Tatis, Jr has been out all season due to injury. Now he will be suspended 80 games due to testing positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid.
The Padres have 48 games left. They are currently in the final NL playoff position—any games they participate in will also count toward the 80 game banishment. The rest will be served at the beginning of 2023.
As always, all appeals are over before MLB announces a drug suspension, so his suspension is effective immediately. He posted a lengthy apology. In it, he asserted having used the substance inadvertently, that he was given it to treat a fungal infection and failed to check it against the banned substance list. Is this explanation plausible? Well, clostebol is primarily used topically. As a steroid, it is anti-inflammatory and would help itching. However, it would absolutely not help a fungal infection.
Regardless, Tatis’ reputation is —fairly or not—tarnished. One amusing bit of fallout is that somebody (not me, I promise) altered the clostebol Wikipedia page:, changing a line about its metabolism. The line had stated that chlorination prevents conversion to estrogen, and was changed to “prevents Fernando Tatis from playing baseball.” Didn’t last long, though—it’s already been changed back.
Fan Interference 