Wait, a pitcher who can't play for at least the first third of a season? Guess that means Hendry's dialing his agent like crazy to sign him.

my buddy who interns at ESPN1000 posted this on his myspace this morning:



DeFalco asked me to do this tonight and it took my about 21/2 hours to complete the research. Since I don't want to waste it, here it is:

Major and Minor League Pitchers Suspended under Major League Baseball's "Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program"



Since Major League Baseball implemented stricter drug testing just before 2005 season. Of the 139 Major or Minor League baseball players found in violation of the MLB's policy 72 ( roughly 52%) were pitchers.



In the 2006 season, 39 players tested positive. Of that 39, 26 (Twenty-Six) were pitchers. That's a whopping 66%.



In 2005, 93 players (including 12 in the majors) were found in violation of MLB's drug/performance-enhancement policy. Of those 93, 46—nearly 50%—were pitchers.





Notable Pitcher Suspensions at the Major League Level:



1.) Guillermo Mota (November 2006)

-N.Y. Mets



2.) Jason Grimsley (June 2006)

- Arizona Diamondbacks (Retired)



3.) Yusaka Iriki (Arpil 2006)

- N.Y. Mets (During Spring Training)



4.) Juan Rincon ( May 2005)

- Minnesota Twins



5.) Felix Heredia (Oct 2005)

- N.Y. Mets



6.) Rafael Betancourt (July 2005)

- Cleveland Indians



7.) Ryan Franklin (Aug. 2005)

- Seattle Mariners







Notable Facts:



----On April 4 2005, the day after Tampa Bay's Alex Sanchez became the first big league player to test positively under the new policy, Major League Baseball released the names of 38 Minor Leaguers who had been suspended after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in what was seen as a first massive crackdown on abusers.



Of those 38 players suspended, 17—or 44%—were pitchers.





-----In October of 2003, Angels reliever Derrick Turnbow was the first Major Leaguer to test positive publicly for steroids. Turnbow tested positive during his tryouts for the USA Baseball's Olympic team and had no effect on his Big-League career because this was before MLB's "Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program"



The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency cited Turnbow as testing positive for one of two substances classified as steroids and prohibited under international baseball rules but not the rules of Major League Baseball. He acknowledged taking an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing one of those substances, known in gyms as "19-nor."







--Sources: The New York Times, Major League Baseball, Wikipedia.

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