Orelvis Martinez handed 80-game PED suspension by MLB

As if the Toronto Blue Jays needed any more negativity this year, Major League Baseball has announced that Orelvis Martinez has been handed an 80-game suspension. The young infielder had only just made his big league debut on Friday and has now been suspended after testing positive for Clomiphene.

This is a performance-enhancing drug.

Martinez, Jays Journal's No. 3 prospect entering the season, got his big league career started off with a 1-for-3 line. Before making it up to the game's highest level, he had hit .260 in 63 Triple-A games, hitting 16 home runs and driving in 46. He has quickly established himself as not only one of the top power hitters in the Blue Jays organization, but in all of Minor League Baseball.

Orelvis Martinez suspended for PED use

This suspension comes at a time where morale is already at an all-time low for the Blue Jays and their followers. The club is riding a five-game losing streak and are currently without Alek Manoah, Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano and most likely Daulton Varsho, who is dealing with a back ailment.

Bichette is due back from the injured list early in the upcoming week, so Martinez's tenure in the majors was always intended to be a short one, but nobody expected it to be this short. Steward Berroa is reportedly on his way to join the Blue Jays (likely as a replacement for Varsho), so the options are getting rather thin as to who will replace Martinez on the 26-man roster until Bichette is back. Perhaps Leo Jimenez, who is a middle infielder already on the 40-man down in Triple-A.

In a statement from GM Ross Atkins, he said that the organization is surprised and disappointed by this news, but they support Martinez.

At 35-41, hope is rapidly dwindling for this year's Blue Jays. They are 3-7 in their last 10 and are up to 15.5 games back in the AL East. The hits just keep coming, but not the ones they need more of.