MLB has laid down the hammer on Nationals catcher Tres Barrera after he tested positive for PEDs. Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Nationals catcher Tres Barrera tests positive for PED, suspended 80 games

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 7/25/20

Washington Nationals catcher Tres Barrera was suspended 80 games without pay by Major League Baseball on Saturday after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, according to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

MLB said the 25-year-old tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), which is a drug Olympic athletes in East Germany used many years ago.

Barrera, who was on Washington's 40-man roster, appealed the suspension, but it was upheld by an arbitrator.

"From the initial failed drug test to losing the appeal, this all has come as a complete surprise as I have never, and will never knowingly use a banned substance," Barrera said in a statement released by the players' association.

The Major League Baseball Players Association today released the following statement on behalf of Tres Barrera: pic.twitter.com/RRv6UhTg9x
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) July 25, 2020

Barrera was selected in the sixth round of the 2016 amateur draft and becomes the seventh player this year to be suspended for violating MLB's drug policy. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Edgar Santana and two Los Angeles Dodgers minor league pitchers are among those who violated the drug policy and currently are serving suspensions.

Barrera's suspension is just the latest blow to the Nationals' lineup. Washington also will be without star outfielder Juan Soto for a while after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

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