Colombia pitcher tests positive for steroid ahead of World Baseball Classic

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Colombia relief pitcher Jean Herrera tested positive for an anabolic steroid in a case announced Friday, six weeks before the World Baseball Classic.

Herrera tested positive for stanozolol — the steroid most famously used by sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics — in a sample taken in out-of-competition testing in November, the International Testing Agency said in a statement.

The agency said “a mandatory provisional suspension has been imposed on the athlete,” who has the right to request an analysis of his B-sample.

The pitcher was once in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system and played for Colombia last March in qualifying for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Herrera pitched one inning of relief in an 8-1 win over China played in Tucson, Arizona.

Colombia opens the WBC on March 6 against Puerto Rico, which hosts their five-nation pool that includes Canada, Cuba and Panama. The United States and Japan are the other co-hosts of the tournament.

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