Braves minor league pitcher slapped with 50-game drug suspension

Braves minor league left-hander Gabriel Noguera has been suspended for 50 games without pay after testing positive for a “drug of abuse” for the second time, the baseball commissioner’s office announced Friday.

Noguera, 21, was 2-2 with a 1.58 ERA in 14 combined games (nine starts) for the Braves’ rookie-level Dominican Summer League and Gulf Coast League affiliates last season, the lowest two rungs in the organization’s minor league system. He had 48 strikeouts with 25 walks in 51 1/3 innings.

Noguera is not ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Braves’ deep farm system and is of relatively advanced age for the rookie-league level.

The suspension will be in effect from the beginning of the 2018 Gulf Coast League season.

Drugs of abuse are in a separate category than performance-enhancing drugs in the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.

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