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Jenrry Mejia Suspended 80-Games For Positive Stanozolol Test

By Kenneth Teape

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For the second consecutive season the New York Mets will be losing their closer to start the season for an extended period of time. Last season it was Bobby Parnell who was lost to Tommy John surgery, and this season is Jenrry Mejia who will be lost because of an 80-game suspension.

Mejia will serve his suspension because of a positive test for Stanozolol. Stanozolol is an anabolic steroid that is on the list of substances that are prohibited for use in the MLB. As a first time offender, Mejia will receive the 80-game ban without pay.

The 25-year old Mejia was set to be the full-time closer for the Mets for the first time in his career after converting 28-31 chances last season after being removed from his role as a starting pitcher. This is a huge blow to the back end of the Mets bullpen that was entering the season as one of the stronger parts of the team.

Mejia was set to miss some time already, as he was placed on the 15-day DL Tuesday because of elbow inflammation, but this is something the Mets could not have been ready for. Mejia will accept the suspension though, and released a statement regarding the manor that Jared Diamond shared on his Twitter account.

Mets’ manager Terry Collins was obviously disappointed, saying, “I understand everything about it. I really do. But you know what? There’s 24 other guys in that locker room that need him too. It’s about all 25 guys, they’ve all got to pull on the same end of the rope.”

While this obviously hurts the Mets, the closer position is one of the easier ones to replace in baseball. With the volatility that follows relief pitchers, most teams usually have other options to close games; very rarely does a Mariano Rivera or Craig Kimbrel for nowadays come around.

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For the Mets, they have multiple options that could fill in at the end of games. On the roster right now, Jeurys Familia should get the first shot at closing games. Within a couple of weeks, last season’s expected closer Bobby Parnell should be back in the fold as well as hard throwing righty Vic Black.

The Mets have plenty of arms that can pick up the slack at the backend of the bullpen, it is just unfortunate that they will be without Mejia for such an extended period of time as he seemed to really embrace the closer’s role when given the change last season. They will now have to wait until at least July before having the services of Mejia again.

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