Free agent pitcher Dan Serafini was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Serafini signed with the Colorado Rockies in July after spending three and a half years pitching in Japan. He appeared in three games and logged only one-third or an inning pitched in 2007.
Serafini blamed his positive test on substances prescribed to him by a doctor in Japan.
“While trying to accelerate the healing process of these injuries, I took substances that were prescribed for me by a doctor in Japan. What I did not know at the time was that these substances would cause me to test positive once I returned to the U.S.”
“I have not taken these or any banned substances since returning to the U.S. and signing with the Colorado Rockies organization in July.”
As Buster Olney points out in his ESPN Insider Blog, Serafini’s excuse may be legitimate, but it’s hard to believe when nearly every player that has tested positive (other than Matt Lawton and Guillermo Mota) has put the blame somewhere else.
Serafini becomes the second player suspended this season for using performance-enhancing drugs under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitcher, Juan Salas, was suspended 50 games on May 7.
See Dan Serafini’s Career Statistics at The Baseball Cube.
