Former first-round pick suspended

NEW YORK -- Yankees farmhand Steve Evarts was suspended 50 games Friday for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension was announced by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, which said the 23-year-old left-hander tested positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance.

Evarts, a former first-round Draft pick, was 1-5 with a 5.65 ERA in seven starts for Class A Charleston. Selected 43rd overall by the Braves in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, he signed with the Yankees as a Minor League free agent last Dec. 13.

Evarts reached Class A in the Braves organization, going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts for Rome in 2008 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He missed the 2009 and 2010 seasons.