Left-handed Rule 5 selection Daniel Stumpf was suspended for 80 games today for violating Major League Baseball’s Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. His enhancement of choice? Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a substance more commonly known as Oral Turinabol and fed to East German Olympic athletes in the 1960s.
Stumpf, selected from the Royals organization, struggled out of the gate with the Phillies, posting a 40.50 ERA in three appearances, an improvement over his “infinity” ERA following his first game. Some what surprisingly, Stumpf is the third Rule 5 left-handed reliever since last year to get busted for PED usage:
PED suspensions apparently rites of passages for Rule 5 LH relievers.