Emmanuel Clase suspended 80 games

Pitcher Emmanuel Clase, who was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Cleveland Indians this past winter in the Corey Kluber trade, has been suspended for 80 games for violating the leagues rules on performance enhancing drugs, per reports.

Clase, a righthanded reliever who made his major league debut in 2019, reportedly tested positive for Boldenone. Clase has been rehabbing from a lat injury that was going to sideline him anyway before the MLB season got put on hold due to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. His suspension will begin whenever play begins.

Clase was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Kluber to Texas, with Cleveland seeing the 22 year old, who throws 100 mph with regularity, as a potentially dominant late inning reliever. Also going to Cleveland was Delino DeShields, with Kluber coming to Texas in a move that the Rangers hoped would give them a legitimate top of the rotation starter. Kluber struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness in 2019, but was reportedly healthy this spring before things came to a halt.