Top MLB prospect Jonathan Gray tests positive for banned stimulant
Positive test isn’t expected to hurt University of Oklahoma pitcher’s position in Thursday’s MLB draft, major league executives say.
|Report an Error|
Share via Email
Jonathan Gray, the University of Oklahoma pitcher who may be selected Thursday with the first pick in the Major League Baseball draft, tested positive for the stimulant Adderall, three high-ranking major league team executives told USA Today Sports.
The executives, each directly involved in the draft, requested anonymity because test results are supposed to be private.
The top 200 draft prospects are subjected to testing under Major League Baseball guidelines, however there are no penalties since they are still amateurs.
Adderall is banned by MLB, with a 25-game suspension for a second offence, unless the player received a therapeutic use exemption.
Yet the team officials said they don’t expect the positive test will hurt Gray’s position in the draft since it involved a stimulant and not a steroid or human growth hormone.
Gray, 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA, and 138 strikeouts in 119 innings this season, is eligible to pitch this weekend in Oklahoma’s super regional game against LSU.
“All University of Oklahoma student-athletes are subject to institutional and NCAA drug testing and are subject to corrective action relative to those policies,” according to a statement released by the Oklahoma communications department. “At this time, we are able to confirm that Jonathan Gray is eligible to compete for the University of Oklahoma baseball program.”
No one answered a phone call to Gray’s family home in Chandler, Okla.
The Houston Astros have the first pick in the draft, followed by the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians.
A six-foot-four junior, Gray has dazzled scouts with a fastball that reaches 100 m.p.h. and a slider that leaves opposing batters swinging at air.
Gray twice has been chosen in the MLB draft, by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round in 2010 and the New York Yankees in the 10th round in 2011. He attended junior college at Eastern Oklahoma State before going to Oklahoma, where his draft stock has soared.
“You just sit there and shake your head,” said Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore after Gray blew away his team this weekend in the opening game of the NCAA tournament in Blacksburg, Va. “The kid’s going to be a great professional.”
- Mayoral candidate Doug Ford's cozy domestic side
- Video Canadians pay respects to Corporal Cirillo along Highway of Heroes
- Tories hint at even tougher anti-terror laws
- Tracking down ‘lone wolf’ terror an elusive target
- Doug Smith looks at Raptors' two decades of turmoil
- Brampton mayor successfully appeals audit payback amount
- Former Chow strategist suing Tory official for $100K
- Video Your Top 10 Big Ideas and Toronto mayoral candidates' stance