Kent Emanuel failed the drug exam. Disqualification – 80 matches.

Houston’s left-handed pitcher Kent Emanuel has been banned from Major League Baseball for 80 matches after failing a drug test. The drug dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHHMT) was found in the body of the player. Emanuel has not yet made his Major League debut, but he was on the club’s extended list of 40 players, so the punishment was written according to the rules of Major League Baseball, not the minor leagues.

Kent, through the players’ union, stated that he did not know how 7 picograms (10-12 grams) of the long-decomposing DHHMT metabolite ended up in his body, adding that he deliberately did not take any substances. Of course, anyone can leave a sarcastic comment on this topic, but let’s refrain from evaluations, since in recent years rather incomprehensible doping stories have often appeared in the League, and the league is not particularly keen with that.

Emanuel who is 28 years old, spent the entire last season at the Houston AAA Round Rock farm club, wherein 101.2 innings he earned an ERA of 3.90 with 7.2 strikeouts per game, as well as 57% of groundballs. The pitcher was not included in the Astros’ bid for the season, and it is clear that Emanuel is in the process of filing an appeal that in itself will take a very long time.

We should remind that earlier the Major League Baseball announced the imposition of punishment for violation of the doping regime for five baseball players, four of whom play in the lower leagues. The only Major League member on this list is Pittsburgh pitcher Edgar Santana. Also punished were pitchers Vladimir Gutierrez (Reds), Juan Idrogo, Reza Aleaziz (both Dodgers), and infielder Jose Rosario.

The League punished Santana and Gutierrez the most severely – 80 matches of suspension. Idrogo and Aleaziz received 72 and 50 doping ban matches, respectively. 18-year-old Rosario was punished with a 50-match suspension for failing an alcoholic drug test.

Do you believe Kent Emanuel, that he did not take any drugs on his own?

Also, you can read How and Why Has Yoenis Céspedes Ended the Season?