In an off-season that has been viewed negatively by many towards the Orioles, they got a bit of more bad news this week.
One of their pitchers will miss twenty-five games to start the season due to amphetamine use.
From the Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Troy Patton was suspended by Major League Baseball on Friday for the first 25 games of next season after a positive test for a banned amphetamine.
Patton told The Baltimore Sun that he took an Adderall pill four days before the season finished, trying to improve his short-term focus.
"I took one because I was stupid," Patton told the Sun. "It was the end of the season. It was just a stupid mistake."
"I don't have trouble focusing all the time, it just enhances focus in certain situations, and I was just tired, basically. I don't want to list that as an excuse. I know I took a banned substance. It was just a poor lapse in judgment," he said.
The 28-year-old left-hander, a veteran of five major league seasons, was 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA this year in 56 relief appearances.
Under the drug agreement between MLB and its players' union, 25 games is the penalty for a second positive amphetamine test. A first positive results only in follow-up testing.
Patton said he also tested positive for Adderall during spring training in 2010.
Wonderful. He won’t be out that long to start the 2014 season; however, Patton is a valuable arm in the Baltimore bullpen.
One would think Patton would have been more careful considering that he a had a DUI in 2011, but this situation is what it is.
