On Sunday, he obtained an 80-game suspension after testing optimistic for performance-enhancing substance Clomiphene, Main League Baseball introduced.
Martinez came upon concerning the suspension on Saturday evening and instantly knowledgeable Blue Jays common supervisor Ross Atkins and supervisor John Schneider.
“Extraordinarily upset and shocked,” Atkins stated pregame in Cleveland. “We absolutely assist this system and need a stage enjoying area, and we’ll work with him to make sure he’s realized from this. Clearly, a giant mistake. We’ll assist him when he returns and thru the method.”
Martinez stated in an announcement that he had been prescribed a fertility drug by a health care provider within the Dominican Republic in the course of the offseason that resulted within the optimistic take a look at. Atkins stated he believed the take a look at occurred earlier than Martinez joined the Blue Jays in Toronto earlier within the week.
“… I took full accountability for my actions and accepted my suspension,” Martinez stated. “I need to apologize to my teammates in each Buffalo and Toronto, the Blue Jays group, and most significantly, the followers who’ve supported me throughout my profession.”
The Blue Jays, like each workforce in baseball, work with each MLB and the MLB Gamers’ Affiliation to assist educate worldwide gamers on the league’s guidelines surrounding performance-enhancing medicine and banned substances. The Blue Jays even have their very own inside program that provides supplemental training surrounding each subjects.
“I really feel like there’s a whole lot of it in place to make sure that all of it has been downloaded by Orelvis,” Atkins stated. “I believe this particular expertise is the true studying for him, however I believe it’s persevering with to give attention to ways in which he can enhance as a human, participant and teammate, and there’s plenty of alternative for that all through our construction.”
The suspension comes on the worst potential time for a Blue Jays workforce that entered play on Sunday six video games under .500 after dropping seven of its previous 9 video games. The workforce hoped that Martinez, who was hitting .260 with 14 dwelling runs and 46 RBIs with Triple-A, would offer some much-needed pop to a lineup that’s hit the second-lowest quantity of homers in MLB.
“In tough instances, you’ll see a whole lot of finger-pointing and excuse-making. Fortuitously, we haven’t seen that, which provides us the boldness that we will nonetheless get it circled,” Atkins stated. “We’ve had a giant setback over the past 5 days [and] we’ve dug ourselves into a little bit little bit of a deeper gap. There’s nonetheless time for us to show issues round; it’s depending on a profitable streak clearly however we’re nonetheless able to that.”
Added Schneider: “All of us signed up for this — whether or not it’s coaches or gamers. It’s been irritating that we haven’t performed as much as our expectations.”
Schneider described his response to Martinez’s suspension as “shocked and upset,” however the skipper stated that he was pleased with the quantity of maturity that the 22-year-old confirmed concerning the suspension.
“He is aware of he made a mistake and we’re going to assist him via it,” Schneider stated. “The actual fact he’s taken accountability for it’s a good first step. … He’s a younger child however he understands he made a mistake.”
Martinez received’t be capable of play with any of the workforce’s associates whereas he’s suspended, and he’ll spend that point at one of many Blue Jays’ services. His suspension might be over on Sept. 23 — 5 days earlier than the common season ends.
As Atkins was addressing the media, a Progressive Subject clubhouse attendant packed up Martinez’s bag of substances and disappeared into the bowels of the stadium. 5 days in the past, the arrival of that gear in Toronto signaled a hopeful signal of issues to return.
“We all know the followers’ disappointment and we share that,” Atkins stated. “It has been a really tough time when you will have these expectations and also you’re not fulfilling that.”