:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46036510/usa-today-8457024.0.jpg)
Current Braves and former Cubs Arodys Vizcaino has been suspended for the first 80 games of the 2015 after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
The official press release from MLB is as follows.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Atlanta Braves Minor League right-handed pitcher Arodys Vizcaino has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
The suspension of Vizcaino, who is currently on the roster of Triple-A Gwinnett and is a member of the Club’s 40-man roster, will be effective for the first 80 games of the 2015 regular season.
The Cubs acquired Vizcaino, along with Jaye Chapman, in a deadline trade in 2012 from Atlanta for Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm. Vizcaino had been a top prospect in the Braves farm system (and the Yankees farm system before that) but was out for the entire 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery that spring.
Vizcaino was ranked as the Cubs number 4 prospect heading into the 2013 season by Baseball America, but he suffered another elbow injury that required arthroscopic surgery to repair. Between that surgery and the recovery from Tommy John, the Cubs held him out the entire 2013 season.
Vizcaino returned to the mound in 2014 and pitched for Daytona, Tennessee and Iowa in the Cubs system before receiving a September callup. He pitched in five games for the Cubs last season, pitching five innings and allowing three runs. He walked three batters and struck out four.
This past offseason, the Cubs sent Vizcaino back to Atlanta in a deal for Tommy La Stella.
Between the injury issues and now this PED suspension, Vizcaino's once-bright star has now faded to almost nothing. By the time he finishes his suspension, he will have played only half a season in the past 3 1/2 years. However, all of this is Atlanta's problem right now as the Cubs have dodged that bullet.