Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright has been suspended 80 games without pay for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, MLB announced Wednesday.
The right-hander, 34, tested positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2), which is in violation of the league's PED policy.
Wright will be placed on the restricted list, which will free up a spot on Boston's 40-man roster. He will miss the first half of the regular season and will be banned from playing in any postseason games should the Red Sox make it that far.
Wright said he was "shocked" when he found out about the positive test.
“We couldn’t figure out how this particular substance got into my system,” Wright said, via The Athletic. “And at the end of the day, it falls on me to try to prevent that, and unfortunately, somewhere it got into my body, and I don’t know how.”
Last season, Wright posted a 2.68 ERA and appeared in 20 games and had a 3-1 record in four starts after he dealt with a severe knee injury in May 2017.
He wasn't healthy enough to appear in the 2018 postseason as the Red Sox won the World Series, but was expected to be fully healthy for the start of the 2019 season.