Down on the Farm: 5/1/2019

AAA  Albuquerque Isotopes outscored the Sacramento River Cats 6-5:

Austin Slater 1B- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .288.
Mike Gerber RF- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(6).  BA= .346.
Mac Williamson LF- 0 for 1, 3 BB, Assist(3B).  BA= .373.
Henry Ramos 2B- 1 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .256.
Fernando Abad LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.04.

Austin Slater says, "Hey!  Don't forget about me!"  Mac Williamson says, "You want walks?  I'll give you walks!"  Mike Gerber just keeps on raking.  I believe Fernando Abad is on some sort of suspension.  He may be a lefty reliever replacement later in the season if the Giants sell off their pending free agents.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Bowie Baysox 7-3:

Jacob Heyward RF- 3 for 5, 2 HR(3).  BA= .351.
Chris Shaw LF- 1 for 3, HR(4), HBP.  BA= .265.
Garrett Williams LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.30.
Melvin Adon RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(2).

Jacob Heyward comes back raking after being out since 4/22.

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A+  San Jose Giants beat the Inland Empire 66'ers 6-3:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 2 for 4, 3B, BB.  BA= .178.
Logan Baldwin RF- 2 for 4, SB(3).  BA= .262.
Trent Toplikar RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.93.
John Gavin LHP- 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.57.
Raffi Vizcaino RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.88.

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A  Augusta Greenjackets topped the Lexington Legends 4-2:

Wander Franco 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(4).  BA= .189.
Jeffry Parra C- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .171.
Seth Corry LHP- 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 1.83.
Luis Amaya LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Jesus Tona RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Luis Amaya makes his 2019 season debut.

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As you all now know, Logan Webb got hit with an 80 game suspension after testing positive for dihydrochlorotestosterone(Turinabol) a synthetic anabolic steroid developed by the East Germans back in the 70's and 80's.  Turanibol is taken orally and apparently has a very short half life which helps avoid detection.  New testing methods are able to detect metabolites which have a longer half-life.  In a long and somewhat convoluted statement, Webb denies knowingly taking the substance and seems to imply, without directly saying so, that he thinks it was a contaminant in a supplement he thought was legal. The part I thought was most interesting is he seems to imply that he was taking numerous supplements.

Just my opinion, but the most likely explanation is he had a supplier who was giving him the "good stuff" on a schedule without explicitly telling him the ingredients.  Also just my opinion, but use of anabolic steroid PED's is likely still widespread and chances of getting caught are low enough that players are willing to take the calculated risk.

More opinion:  Either those supplements Webb seems to be taking contain anabolic steroids or they are not doing him a darn bit of good.  The single biggest scam in history is the nutritional supplement market.  People spend $ billions if not $ trillions on substances for which there is not a shred of evidence of any efficacy and significant evidence of potential harm.  Take something as seemingly beneficial as multiple vitamins.  There are good studies on multiple vitamins.  If you have any semblance of a balanced diet, they are not beneficial and quite possible a small net harm.  Multiple vitamins are some of the more innocuous examples.  Just say no to nutritional supplements!