San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal has completed his 50-game drug suspension and is set to be reinstated to the big-league club on Tuesday, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com.
Yasmani Grandal finishes suspension, rejoining Padres on Tuesday
The young backstop has completed his 50-game PED suspension.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Grandal, 24, went from wunderkind to pariah pretty quickly over the offseason. After putting up strong numbers as a rookie in the second half of 2012 -- .297/.394/.469 in 226 plate appearances -- the Cuban catcher tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone early in the fall, landing him a first offender PED suspension.
Wacha Wacha!
Top prospect Michael Wacha will make his big-league debut for the Cardinals on Thursday. Things didn’t get any better for the young catcher when his name appeared among several others in the original Biogenesis PED clinic report filed by the Miami New Times in late January. Neither Grandal nor any other MLB player has been punished for links to Biogenesis (yet), but it certainly doesn’t help his reputation.
Grandal is likely to share time with the struggling Nick Hundley for the time being, which should be interesting considering Hundley's comments from earlier this month. The veteran backstop called Grandal "unproven," adding that he just had "a good couple months on steroids." Steroids or no, Grandal may push Hundley out of a job if he (Hundley) cannot turn things around at the plate.
The Padres have optioned catcher John Baker back down to Triple-A to make room on the active roster for Grandal.
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