Last week I heard of the latest suspension casualty of the Major League Baseball steroid policy. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edison Volquez received his 50 game suspension for his first offense against the current policy. Where this story differs from the other suspensions is the reason why Volquez tested positive. 

In an interview with MLB.com, Volquez explained the reason for the positive test. In reading the article I learned that he sought the help of a doctor in the Dominican Republic because he was trying to start a family with his wife. 

Volquez explained that he was receiving a prescription to treat a “common medical condition” in order to attempt to start his family, and did not know that this would lead to a positive test. Once again, this test demonstrates that players need to be careful about any substance they put in their body because of the list of banned substances in the MLB.

While the current policy does protect the privacy of the specific drugs that the player tested positive for, at the end of the season the league publishes a list of all the drugs for which players tested positive. In this case, I have a feeling that anyone looking at this year’s report will be able to figure out which of the substances caused Volquez to test positive. 

After reading this, I realized that the MLB needs to consider making some changes to its policy. While I understand that there are several substances that can cause a positive reading, I do not see the advantage that a professional baseball player receives from taking this medication for the “common medical condition.” Unless there is another ingredient in this substance, I think that the MLB should take this time to reanalyze their list of banned substances.

While Volquez is required to serve a 50-game suspension, he is also on the 60-day disabled list recovering from Tommy John surgery. This means that he is able to serve his suspension while on the disabled list, and not miss any additional time. This suspension does cost Volquez over $100,000 in salary, however, which will hurt more than missing the games. 

The fact that he is able to serve his suspension while on the disabled list is another issue that the MLB may need to examine as well. Volquez was going to miss the games anyway—he is sitting out right now because he is injured. So should a player be able to serve a suspension while on the disabled list? 

While I understand that Volquez is losing part of his salary during this time because of the suspension, the point of a suspension is to punish a player and their team because of a violation of the rules. By letting Volquez serve his suspension while he was already missing games, is the punishment really being felt?

Obviously, in this case I can understand the decision of the MLB, as I don’t think Volquez was trying to enhance his on-field performance by taking these drugs. But the policy may need to be reconsidered.