Braves minor league pitcher Steve Borkowski got slapped with a 68-game suspension without pay after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He’s currently on the rookie-league Danville roster, and his suspension begins at the start of the 2016 season.
The Braves signed the 22-year-old undrafted free agent to a minor-league contract in July, and Borkowski went 3-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 10 relief appearances at Danville, allowing 32 hits, 20 runs and six walks with 14 strikeouts in 20 innings.
He tested positive for a metabolite of Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the minor league drug program. The 68-game length of the suspension equals a full season in the Appalachian League, a short-season rookie league.
The suspension was one of three announced Tuesday by the office of the baseball commissioner. The others were Cubs minor league outfielder Adron Chambers, who got a 50-game suspension following a second positive test for a “drug of abuse,” and Giants minor league pitcher Alvaro Diaz, who got a 25-game suspension without pay following an unspecified violation of the drug program.
