Fernando Tatis Sr., who played in the major leagues for parts of 11 seasons, told “The Midday Show” in his native Dominican Republic on Monday that Tatis Jr. he used the drug Trofobol to treat a ringworm that appeared on the side of his neck. , whose photo was previously posted on his mother’s Instagram page. The drug, which is not sold in the United States, is a spray used to treat skin conditions such as scars and burns. The label lists clostebol, the anabolic steroid on which Tatis Jr. tested positive, and neomycin, an antibiotic, as two of its main ingredients. Tatis was hit with an 80-game suspension Friday after testing positive for clostebol, ruling him out of the Padres’ final 48 regular-season games and as far as the playoffs, if they get there. The remainder of the suspension will be served at the start of the 2023 season. The discipline was imposed as Tatis was in the final stages of his recovery from a left wrist injury suffered during the offseason in what is believed to be a hit-and-run accident. motorcycle in December. 2 Related Those two incidents, combined with the 14-year, $340 million extension he signed in February 2021, raised serious concerns about the 23-year-old shortstop’s credibility and drew sharp comments from key members of the Padres, most notably general manager AJ Preller. who addressed issues of trust while speaking with beat reporters last week from Washington, DC Tatis Sr. acknowledged that his son was at fault for not realizing the drug contained a steroid, a direct violation of the drug policy agreed upon jointly between MLB and the players’ union, but added that he “could have handled it” better than championship, without going into details. “I don’t think there was any reason to ruin a player’s image for something as small as this,” he told “The Midday Show” in Spanish. Later, Tatis Sr. added: “It’s a disaster what happened, not only for Jr., but for all of baseball. There are millions of fans who will stop watching baseball now. It’s an absolute disappointment for Dominican fans, fans around the world , for something so trivial it wasn’t worth it. It’s topical. What tested positive on Jr.’s body is something that doesn’t empower you, first of all, it doesn’t enhance [weight-training] The formula, the second, has no testosterone, the third, contains absolutely nothing that would give you an advantage in the game. What happened is a disaster for baseball.” Clostebol is, indeed, a derivative of testosterone and is an anabolic steroid that has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Dee Gordon and Freddy Galvis were previously suspended for testing positive for the substance by MLB, which has listed clostebol as a banned substance since the drug testing program began in 2003. Tatis Jr. he is the first player in major league history with 80 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the first 300 games of his career, but he will have played in only 273 of a possible 546 regular season games through the end of 2022. He missed the last seven weeks of the 2019 season due to a stress reaction in his lower back and spent all of 2021 dealing with a nagging left shoulder that often kept him out of the lineup. His multi-year absence in 2022, however, was a product of factors seemingly well within his control. And it comes at the worst possible time for the franchise, which stripped its farm system to acquire Juan Soto and raised its payroll to record highs while chasing its first championship. In a lengthy statement issued Friday, Tatis said he briefly considered appealing the suspension before deciding to serve the sentence, adding that he was “completely devastated” by the incident. Tatis Sr. told “The Midday Show” that he and his son plan to travel to several leagues throughout the Dominican Republic to explain their side of events to young ballplayers. “There’s one thing no one will ever be able to take away: the grace with which Fernando plays the game,” Tatis Sr. said. “There is no man who will ever be able to take it away.”
