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Atlanta Braves pitcher Arodys Vizcaino suspended 80 games

By Nathaniel Reeves

Mar 18, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) throws a pitch during a spring training baseball game against the New York Yankees at Champion Stadium. The Yankees won 12-5. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) throws a pitch during a spring training baseball game against the New York Yankees at Champion Stadium. The Yankees won 12-5. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Atlanta Braves relief prospect will miss half of 2015 after being sidelined all of 2012 and 2013.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Arodys Vizcaino has been suspended 80 games for the use of the anabolic steroid Stanozolol, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Vizcaino was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett last week and will serve the suspension there without pay. The 80-game suspension stems from MLB’s new PED policy enacted last year, as it would have been 50 games for a first offender previously.

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The 24-year-old was rated one of the top 100 overall prospects in baseball back in 2011 when he made his debut at a very young age in a first stint with the Braves. Vizcaino underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2012, was traded to the Chicago Cubs at the deadline for Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm, and didn’t pitch again until last season.

While he was a starter in the lower levels of the minors, Vizcaino has exclusively relieved since the surgery. Vizcaino posted a 5.40 ERA (4.79 FIP) in 18.1 innings of Triple-A last season and pitched five major league innings with the Cubs.

The stuff is still there for Vizcaino, who throws in the upper 90s even after surgery and has a nice complementary breaking ball. Command has been the issue (which often is the case with pitchers who undergo Tommy John), as Vizcaino posted a BB/9 of 5.40 in last year’s Triple-A stint and was left off the roster after walking nine in eight innings this spring.

Even if Vizcaino was to start the year in the minors, the Braves cannot be too thrilled about this. Atlanta liked Vizcaino enough to acquire him via trade on two separate occasions.

The cost of the second acquisition last November was not negligible. Tommy La Stella is a fringe prospect, but will receive meaningful playing time with the Cubs this year and could have helped the current Braves roster at either second or third base.

Vizcaino is still just 24 and can throw a fastball in the triple digits. But this suspension is going to leave him with a total of 46 innings pitched in a period of 3.5 years. He’s got a long way to go and a lot of questions to answer before he’s ready to contribute in the majors.

Fortunately for the Braves, the bullpen doesn’t project to be one of their many problems this season. There’s enough depth behind Craig Kimbrel and Jason Grilli that Vizcaino would have had trouble making the majors in the first half anyway.

The suspension marks the second time in a matter of days that a relief prospect has been popped for Stanozolol. Mariners lefty David Rollins was suspended 80 games last week for using the steroid.

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