MLB News: Dodgers’ Josh Ravin Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Josh Ravin received an 80-game suspension on Monday following a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. Ravin reportedly tested positive for a banned peptide.

Ravin becomes the seventh major leaguer to face discipline over a PED-related issue. The other names include 2B Dee Gordon, INF/OF Chris Colabello, LHP Daniel Stumpf, C Taylor Teagarden, OF Abraham Almonte, and RHP Jenrry Mejia. With the exception of Mejia — who received a lifetime ban for a third positive test — all of the other players received 80-game suspensions.

The 28-year-old relief pitcher is currently on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster but has spent the entire season on the disabled list. He suffered a break of the radius bone in his left (non-throwing) forearm in a car accident during the offseason. The car accident happened on Tuesday, March 1, when Ravin was driving in Glendale, Arizona.

According to a police report obtained by Inside The Dodgers, Ravin “failed to control his speed and attempted to avoid colliding with the vehicle in front him. He rear-ended that vehicle and then swerved into oncoming [westbound] traffic, colliding with a third vehicle.”

Ravin received a civil traffic citation for “failure to control speed to avoid a collision” Also, the accident left Ravin’s arm in rough shape as he tweeted this NSFW photo to show the gruesome injury. The 80-game suspension caps off what has been a rough eight-month period for the West Hills, California native.

In early October last year, Ravin’s brother Joel was shot five times while pulling his SUV into the garage of his West Hills home. The gunshots left Joel Ravin in serious condition, but he survived. Shortly after the shooting, Josh took to Twitter to call for stronger mental health care, as the man who shot his brother was reportedly “mentally unstable.” (via Fox Sports).

Several months later, during Spring Training, Ravin came down with a serious case of the flu and strep throat. The ailment caused the hard-throwing righty to lose 15 pounds and valuable preparation time. He got into the aforementioned car accident shortly thereafter.

Ravin made his major league debut last season, going 2-1 with 6.75 ERA in nine-and-one-third innings (nine games) for the Dodgers. It was a nine-year long journey for Ravin to majors as he was a fifth-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2006 MLB Draft. He spent nine years in the minor leagues without getting a chance at the Big League level.

“That’s something a lot of people have wondered,” Ravin said to the Orange County Register last year. “It’s why I’ve stuck around. … David Aardsma [former big leaguer and Ravin’s teammate in the minor leagues last year] said to me just a couple weeks ago, ‘It blows my mind that you’ve never pitched in the big leagues.'”

After spending parts of eight season in the Reds’ system, he was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers in September 2013. However, the team subsequently released Ravin, allowing him to become a free agent. He inked a minor league with the Dodgers prior to the 2014 season.

Ravin spent all of 2014 in the Dodgers’ minor league system before getting the call up last year. He made his debut on June 2, 2015, against the Rockies in the hitter-friendly Coors Field. In the eighth inning of that game, Ravin struck out second baseman D.J. LeMahieu. The following inning, second baseman Alex Guerrero gave the Dodgers a lead with a home run, paving the way to Ravin’s first MLB win.

“I’m going to sleep with the ball. I really don’t know what to make of it. It’s been a long time building up.”

[Featured Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images]