The Houston Astros will be without young starting pitcher David Paulino for pretty much the remainder of the 2017 regular season. Jon Morosi over at MLB Network is reporting that the 23-year-old pitcher has been suspended for 80 games after violating the league’s policy against performance enhancing drugs.
#Astros pitcher David Paulino suspended 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone, a PED. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 1, 2017
Paulino, a native of the Dominican Republic, has struggled thus far in the Majors. He’s pitching to a 6.52 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in six starts with Houston this season. Even then, the first-place Astros have been relying on him to fill out an otherwise strong rotation.
It remains to be seen how this will impact Houston’s trade deadline plans, but it would not be a major shock to see the team go after another veteran starter with Paulino sidelined for the next 80 games.