Dodgers minor-leaguer gets suspended for PEDs after impressive 2024 season

Los Angeles Dodgers v Washington Nationals
Los Angeles Dodgers v Washington Nationals | G Fiume/GettyImages

Dodgers minor-league shortstop Jose D. Hernandez definitely isn't a name that fans should be expected to know, but last week he put himself on the map for all of the wrong reasons.

Hernandez signed out of Venezuela in 2019, netting himself a $10,000 bonus. He made his stateside debut this season with the Arizona Complex League Dodgers after spending three seasons in the DSL, and he had a pretty impressive run over 26 games, slashing .302/.394/.512.

Although it was a small sample size, and definitely not enough to allow him to break into the Dodgers' top 30 prospects list, it followed a similarly impressive 2023 season, when he played 43 games in the Dominican Republic and batted .290 with a .938 OPS.

However, on Nov. 27, MLB announced that he was being suspended for the entirety of the ACL's 2025 season after testing positive for two performance-enhancing drugs, boldenone and nandrolone.

Dodgers minor leaguer Jose D. Hernandez suspended for usage of two PEDs

Hernandez got off to a lopsided start to his professional career in 2021, when he posted a .407 OBP but just a .298 slugging over 46 games in the DSL. He only played in 20 games in 2022 and his power did see some improvement during that time, but he still put up just a .387 slugging that year.

It's unclear when he started using PEDs, but his power did get a suspiciously large boost in 2023, with his slugging jumping almost 150 points from 2022. He hit six homers and 12 doubles with 30 RBI, by far the most of any of his seasons, and his waning OBP jumped back up to exceed .400.

Hernandez is the 20th minor leaguer to be suspended for PED use this year, and the Dodgers' first since Geremias Valencia in 2022. The Reds' Noelvi Marté and Blue Jays' Orelvis Martínez were the only two major leaguers to be suspended.

Valencia's suspension effectively ended his professional career, as the Dodgers released him following the 2022 season, and the same thing very well could end up happening to Hernandez.

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