Dodgers minor league RHP Adrian Salcedo suspended 144 games for positive PED test

PHOENIX -- A Dodgers player got suspended on Wednesday, after all, though perhaps not who people might have expected. Minor league pitcher Adrian Salcedo tested positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance, and was suspended 144 games for violation of the minor league drug treatment program.

Salcedo, 25, was signed by the Dodgers to a minor league contract on Nov. 21, 2015, after putting up strong strikeout rates in the minors since converting to relief in 2013. But his 2015 was marred by a pair of suspensions.

In April, Salcedo tested positive for both a performance-enhancing drug (Tamoxifen) and a stimulant (Heptaminol) and received an 80-game ban. Then in September he tested positive for a stimulant (Heptaminol) to trigger a 100-game ban.

That second suspension happened so late in the minor league season that he still has 94 games remaining entering 2016. This new suspension of a full minor league season only adds to that, and means the earliest Salcedo will pitch in a game is the 95th game of the 2017 season.

One more positive test for Salcedo, for either a PED or a stimulant, would be his third such violation and result in a lifetime banishment for minor and major league baseball.

In between suspensions in 2015, Salcedo put up a 470 ERA in 23 innings between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Rochester in the Twins' system, with 18 strikeouts and 13 walks.