St. Louis Cardinals minor league pitcher Alex Reyes will miss the start of the 2016 season after earning a 50-game suspension following a positive test for marijuana, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.
"I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize for disappointing my family, fans, teammates and the St. Louis Cardinals organization," Reyes said in a statement, per Sanchez. "I acknowledge my inappropriate behavior and will accept the consequences. Baseball is my passion and I will do everything in my power to put this behind me and move forward."
As MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch noted, the suspension will begin immediately and the remainder of Reyes' Arizona Fall League schedule will count toward the 50-game total.
In a statement, the commissioner's office confirmed Reyes' suspension is a result of a second positive test, per Sanchez. Although the 50-game suspension is in line with the league's standards, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan wondered whether testing positive for marijuana should be a punishable offense:
Before the start of last season, Baseball America ranked Reyes as the No. 2 prospect in the Cardinals organization. Baseball Prospectus subsequently rated him the 16th-best prospect in all of MLB in its midyear ranking.
Reyes spent 2015 with the Cardinals' rookie league, High-A and Double-A affiliates. In 22 starts, he finished with a 5-7 record and a 2.49 earned run average.
He's still likely another full season away from helping St. Louis at the major league level. Only eight of his starts came in Double-A, so the Cardinals will want to give him more time there and also groom him with Triple-A Memphis before giving him a full call-up.
Being absent for a stretch of games at the beginning of 2016 is unlikely to demonstrably stymie Reyes' development and eventual MLB arrival.
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