Jair Jurrjens, a former Braves pitcher trying to make it back to the major leagues with the Dodgers, has been slapped with an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.
In announcing the suspension, the office of the commissioner said Jurrjens, 31, tested positive for exogenous testosterone, a PED in violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.
A one-time All-Star with the Braves, Jurrjens was 4-3 with a 4.64 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) for the Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate this season and had 44 strikeouts with 18 walks in 54 1/3 innings. He last pitched in the major leagues with Colorado in 2014, posting a 10.61 ERA in two starts for the Rockies.
With the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015, Jurrjens was 2-5 with a 6.88 ERA in 17 games including 14 starts.
He reached the majors with the Detroit Tigers in 2007 and made seven big-league starts that year before he was traded to the Braves in October 2007.
Jurrjens had his best seasons with the Braves, going 50-36 with a 3.58 ERA in 119 games (118 starts) in five seasons through 2012 before his promising career was stalled by chronic knee problems and a groin injury.
He was 13-6 with a 2.96 ERA in 23 starts in his All-Star season in 2011, when he led the National League in wins and ERA at the break, but made only four starts in the second half before returning to the disabled list with recurring problems in his surgically repaired right knee.
A groin injury in 2012 contributed to his struggles and temporary demotion to Triple-A, and Jurrjens became a non-tendered free agent after the season and signed with the Orioles. He pitched in only two games (one start) for Baltimore and has made four major league appearances (three starts) since his last season with the Braves in 2012.
