The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Philadelphia Phillies left-handed pitcher Elniery Garcia has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
The suspension of Garcia, a 40-man roster player who is currently on option to Double-A Reading of the Eastern League, is effective immediately.The 22-year-old left-hander is ranked as the Phils' 18th-best prospect by MLBPipeline.com. He is currently on the club's 40-man roster and started 2017 with Double-A Reading, but he had not appeared in a game.
Garcia originally signed with the Phillies in December 2011 out of the Dominican Republic. Last season, while pitching for Class A Advanced Clearwater, he went 12-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 20 games, 19 of them starts. Garcia struck out 91 batters in 117 2/3 innings.
