March 28, 2024

Royals pitcher Skoglund given 80-game suspension

NEW YORK (AP) — Kansas City Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund was suspended Monday for the season’s first 80 games after testing positive for two performance-enhancing substances.

The commissioner’s office said the positive tests were for selective androgen receptor modulators S-22 (Ostarine) and LGD-4033 (Ligandrol).

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said in a statement Skoglund “unknowingly made a mistake” and “we remain proud of who Eric is as a person and will support him as an organization.”

Skoglund was 1-6 with a 5.14 ERA last season. The 26-year-old lefty was in the rotation in April and May, missed the next three months because of an elbow sprain and pitched well in September.

The 6-foot-7 Skoglund made his big league debut in 2017, going 1-2 with a 9.50 ERA in seven games. He was a candidate to begin this season in the rotation, a year after the Royals went 58-104.