Major League Baseball suspended free agent pitcher Carlos Martinez for 85 games for violating MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Should Martinez sign with another team, he must serve the unpaid suspension before he can take the field again. That is on top of an 80-game suspension he received in May for violating the joint drug prevention and treatment program.
Martinez, who played his entire nine-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, tested positive for Ibutamoren, a banned performance-enhancing substance.
The two-time All-Star missed the second half of the 2021 season with a torn thumb ligament. The Cardinals chose to decline his option, and he signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants in March.
Martinez did not make the Giants’ big-league club and was granted his release April 28. He signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox in May but was cut after making two starts for Triple-A Worcester, in which he went 0-2 with a 20.77 ERA.
In 274 career games (139 starts) with the Cardinals, Martinez went 62-52 with a 3.74 ERA and 927 strikeouts. The 30-year-old was an All-Star selection in 2015 and 2017.
–Field Level Media