Toronto Blue Jays outfielder/first baseman Chris Colabello was suspended 80 games without pay for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, Major League Baseball announced on Friday.
Colabello's positive test for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid that is sold under the name Turinabol, was a violation of MLB's joint drug prevention and treatment program. His suspension is effective immediately.
"On March 13, I got one of the scariest and most definitely the least-expected phone calls of my entire life. I was informed by the players' association that a banned substance was found in my urine," Colabello said in a statement released by the union. "I have spent every waking moment since that day trying to find an answer as to why or how?"
Colabello, 32, is batting .069 in 10 games for the Blue Jays this season. In 2015, his first season with Toronto, he batted .321 with 15 HR and 54 RBIs.
"I would never compromise the integrity of the game of baseball," Colabello said. "I am saddened more for the impact this will have on my teammates, the organization and the fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. I hope that before anyone passes judgment on me they can take a look at the man that I am, and everything that I have done to get to where I am in my career."
Colabello, who has played 225 big league games in parts of four seasons, will lose $227,891 of his $521,126 major league salary. He was with the Twins in 2013-14 before signing with the Blue Jays.
"This is obviously an unfortunate situation that we are in with Chris. We believe in him as a person and player," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said in a statement. "Chris has overcome a great deal in his career and has been a key contributor to this team. While we are certainly disappointed with today's news, we're confident he'll return ready to compete and will have taken the steps needed to ensure that this does not happen again."
On Friday, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said the team signed free-agent outfielder Michael Bourn to a minor league deal and will send him to extended spring training. Bourn was released by the Braves on April 2.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report