Daniel Stumpf warms prior to a 2016 Spring Training game (Frank Klose/Philliedelphia)
When the Phillies learned that left-handed reliever Daniel Stumpf was suspended for 80 games, it was the first suspension announced during the 2016 Major League season. Soon thereafter, Chris Colabello of the Toronto Blue Jays was suspended for using the same drug as Stumpf. Dee Gordon of the Miami Marlins, son of former Phillies pitcher Tom Gordon, received his own suspension last week. According to a report, the suspensions are not over yet.
T.J. Quinn of ESPN reports that more are on the way:
Major League Baseball is expected to announce in the next few days that another player has tested positive for the steroid Turinabol, a drug that was commonly used by East German athletes in the 1970s. The positive test is one of a handful being processed, two sources familiar with the cases told Outside the Lines, meaning it's all but certain that more announcements will follow.
While Gordon used more traditional steroids, Stumpf and Colabello used Turinabol, which can exit a player's system after as little as five days.
Colabello and Stumpf both reportedly tested positive during Spring Training, and the appeals ended upon the announcement of their suspensions. That means that other players could have tested positive in that same time period and are working out their appeals. With Turinabol as the common denominator, could there be one major supplier, as Biogenesis was for testosterone?
We could find out soon.