Twins' Salcedo suspended 100 games

NEW YORK -- Minnesota Twins Minor Leaguer Adrian Salcedo was suspended for a second time this season on Tuesday, earning a 100-game penalty after testing positive for a banned drug.

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball said Salcedo, a right-handed reliever with Double-A Chattanooga, received a 100-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Heptaminol, a stimulant in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension is effective immediately.

Salcedo, 24, was previously slapped with an 80-game suspension on April 29 when he tested positive for Tamoxifen and Heptaminol. He served that ban and was activated on July 31 before the Twins promoted him to Triple-A Rochester in mid-August. He was optioned back to the Southern League on Aug. 22.

Salcedo, who signed with the Twins in 2007 out of the Dominican Republic, is 0-2 with a 4.70 ERA in a dozen outings this season for Rochester and Chattanooga. The 6-foot-4 righty was a non-roster invitee to Twins Spring Training this past offseason before starting the year with Chattanooga. He pitched in five games before his first suspension and then returned to the mound on Aug. 1.

In 23 innings, he struck out 18, walked 13 and held batters to a .238 average.

Heptaminol -- the same substance Salcedo was suspended for in April --  is an amino alcohol which is used to treat low blood pressure but is considered a cardiac stimulant and a doping substance. It is most prominently connected with professional cycling -- cyclist Dmitriy Fofonov tested positive for the drug at the 2008 Tour de France, while in baseball, former Major Leaguer Joel Piniero was suspended for using it in 2014 while at Triple-A.

Major League Baseball has issued 81 suspensions to 79 players this year for violations of the Minor League drug program. Salcedo and Chad James are the only players to receive two suspensions in 2015.