Hollywood certainly didn’t write this sour twist to the feel-good story of Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello.
The MLB announced on Friday that Colabello has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
According to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, the substance in question was the anabolic steroid dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.
MLB suspends Toronto's Chris Colabello 80 games for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a performance-enhancing substance. Mass. native.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) April 22, 2016
Amidst all those letters is an unfortunate turn of events for the 32-year-old journeyman. Colabello had won his way into the hearts of baseball fans everywhere with his improbable backstory, toiling away for years in independent baseball before his meteoric rise last season to emerge as an impact slugger for Toronto.
The magic failed to carry over into 2016, however, as Colabello batted just 2-for-29 (.069) through his first ten games of the season.
Colabello released the following statement on Friday in response to his suspension (per Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star):
Statement from Chris Colabello: pic.twitter.com/9UWTr7YfLD
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) April 22, 2016
The Blue Jays are now likely to rely on Justin Smoak as their everyday first baseman for the duration of Colabello’s suspension.
Image Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
H/T theScore
