Giants pitching prospect Logan Webb suspended 80 games for PED use

Webb is the third of the Giants’ top five prospects to be dealt a major setback this season, though this one appears to be entirely of his own doing.

Giants starting pitching prospect Logan Webb, who had been stationed at Double-A Richmond, has been suspended 80 games under Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy after testing positive for (wonders aloud how they had enough characters to tweet this drug name) Dehydrochlorormethyltestosterone.

Webb, 22, was ranked as the Giants’ No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and he was off to a dominant start at Richmond, posting a 2.00 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP, 31 strikeouts, and just seven walks over 27 innings. He’s the third of the Giants’ top five prospects according to Pipeline to have his season interrupted by an unfortunate development: No. 1 prospect Joey Bart is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured hand, and No. 2 prospect Heliot Ramos is expected to miss at least a month with a knee sprain. In addition, No. 3 prospect Marco Luciano is in extended spring training and hasn’t played yet, while No. 4 prospect Shaun Anderson has gotten off to somewhat of a slow start at Triple-A Sacramento, posting a 4.01 ERA over five starts.

Webb, who was selected as a high-schooler in the fourth round of the 2013 draft and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016, is maintaining his innocence — despite accepting the suspension — saying, “I know in my heart that something someday will be put into the world to prove my innocence.”

Dehydrochlorormethyltestosterone, also known as Oral Turinabol, was a drug popularized by German olympic athletes during the 1970s. Per the Banned Substances Control Group, Oral-T’s use is extremely rare today, and it’s realistic that it could have been present in a contaminated dietary supplement.