Okay, two things about Jeremy Jeffress, who the Royals got the Brewers in the Zack Greinke trade.
Royals’ Jeffress Has Every Reason To Stick In Majors
One, this spring he’s probably going to set the (unofficial) record for fastest pitch in franchise history.
And two, he should be really really really motivated to make the Opening Day roster, and stay on it.
Why?
MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel on Jeffress:
His progression up the Brewers' system was twice interrupted by suspensions for violating the Minor League Drug Treatment and Prevention Program, which Jeffress acknowledged was for use of marijuana. His second offense in 2007 cost him 50 games; his third offense in 2009 cost him 100 games.
If there's a next time under the Minor League program, he'd receive a lifetime ban. The Major Leagues have a different set of rules and players are not tested for marijuana.
"Yeah, it'd be lifetime," Jeffress said. "It's always in the back of my mind. It's a bump in the road that I will have to deal with. You can't really dwell on that, you can't dwell on the past. You can't focus on the bad things, you've got to focus on the positives and the work ethicthat you'll be able to provide for your team and yourself."
This is sort of a Catch-22. Pot smokers supposedly aren’t highly motivated, but if Jeffress isn’t highly motivated to pitch in the major leagues he might wind up back in the minor leagues where he can’t smoke pot.
Life sure can be complicated sometimes.
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