This week, Major League Baseball’s Friday afternoon drug suspension news dump included a familiar name: Marlins outfield prospect Tristan Pompey. He’s been banned without pay for the first 50 games of the 2022 season for a second positive test of a drug of abuse.
There is a distinction between “drugs of abuse” and performance-enhancing drugs, as explained in the Minor League Drug Prevention And Treatment Program. Getting caught with the latter even one time results in a 60-game suspension for minor leaguers. Pompey was not cheating—he’s being sidelined for recreational drug use.