Marlins rookie pitcher Paul Campbell gets 80-game suspension for steroids

May 3 (UPI) — MLB suspended Miami Marlins right-hander Paul Campbell for 80 games Monday after the rookie pitcher tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

The league said in a statement that the suspension, which involved the use of the performance-enhancing drug dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, was effective immediately.

Campbell, who was a Rule 5 acquisition in December from the Tampa Bay Rays, said he never knowingly took the PED.

“Due to the fact that I do not know the origin of how this substance has entered into my system, I currently have no viable defense,” Campbell said in a statement through the MLB Players Association.

“I have unfortunately become one of the many athletes, across multiple sports, who are presenting themselves to the world and asking for members of the anti-doping world to help us find answers as to why this metabolite is continuing to show up in athletes’ bodies, and ultimately costing them significant detours in their careers.”

The 25-year-old Campbell also apologized for bringing “negative light” to those who believe in him. He made his major league debut this season and was 0-2 with an 8.74 ERA in five games this season.

Campbell was earning the MLB minimum of $570,500 this season and will lose about half of that amount as a result of the suspension.

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