Record nine Dominicans to play in MLB All-Star Game

Dominican player David Ortiz is appearing in his
9th All-Star Game. Photo by Aaron Donovan.

The 2013 MLB All-Star Game features a a record nine Dominican baseball players. The total number of Latin and Dominican players has been on the upswing over the last decade-plus, and those higher numbers of total players undoubtedly leads to more Latins and Dominicans participating in the mid-summer classic. Last year in the 2012 All-Star Game eight Dominican players were featured in the game.

The American League All-Star roster features starters and perennial All-Stars Robinson Cano, Jose Bautista, and David Ortiz. It also features Dominicans Bortolo Colon, Jhonny Peralta, Nelson Cruz, and Edwin Encarnacion. No shortage of drama here, as you can see that Colon, Peralta, and Cruz are all mired in steroid accusations and could be suspended before the end of the year. But alas, they have been named to the team.

Featured on the National League roster are just two Dominican players. Jean Segura is appearing in his first All-Star game, after just a little over a years in the majors. He had a respectable season for part of last year with the Brewers, and then he tore up the Dominican Winter League in the off-season with the Gigantes del Cibao. The other Dominican player on the National League roster is Segura's teammate in Milwaukee Carlos Gomez.

This is the Dominican players that plan to play as of now. The Dominican Baseball Guy is somewhat perplexed at the All-Star carosuel. I beleive Colon is out due to injury or he is a replacement player, but is not playing. I thought Cruz was out injured as well. Big Papi will probably come up once, swing for the fences, and sit down. Who really knows?

In the end, nine Dominican players have been named to the 2013 MLB All-Star game. We will all tune in tonight to see which ones play.

Dominican player Bartolo Colon suspended 50 games for steroids

Once again we have a Dominican baseball player suspended for performance enhancing drugs. Bartolo Colon was busted and handed a 50-game suspension for a first time offender. That is the first time he has been convicted, not accused.

Just this past May, MLB investigated an off-season surgery on Colon's elbow. Doctors reportedly injected stem cells from Colon's back into his elbow, a procedure that did not violate MLB drug regulations. You would think he would try not do use illegal substances after that off-season, but in a statement he all but admits to the steroid use:

"I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's. I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the Joint Drug Program."

I miss the days when players would at least lie and try and act like they had not been taking performance enhancing drugs. The Dominican Baseball Guy thought all along that is what the stem cells from his back that had him off to such a good season. But now I am not sure if it was the surgery or the PEDs or the fact that his is a really talented pitcher that led him to such a good year.

He has the surprising A's in playoff contention and is 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA. And he had a 20-plus inning scoreless streak this season. Now we will have to see what the A's will do without him because he will not be back until next year, because the A's are not making it to the second round of the playoffs.

Bartolo is from Altamira, Dominican Republic.

Dominican player Bartolo Colon suspended 50 games for steroids, photo by Keith Allison

Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon has 22 inning scoreless streak

On Tuesday , Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon scortched the Angels for seven innings, only surrendering one unearned run in his final inning of work. That unearned run ended his consecutive scoreless inning streak at 22.1 innings, but he does still maintain a streak of 22.2 innings without surrendering an earned run.

The amazing thing: Colon is in his 15th big league season and is two years removed from major elbow surgery. That surgery in 2011 was under investigation by MLB because it involved injecting his elbow with his own stem cells from his back. The Dominican pitcher Colon was eventually cleared in that case, and he pitched last year with the Yankees. He is back this year with the A's, and is having an even beter year, at 39 years old. Colon has nine wins and a 3.55 ERA in 23 starts and over 140 innings.

The even more amazing thing: according to Fangraphs he is pitching about 90% fastballs. Since Fangraphs began tracking pitches in 2002, no pitcher with over 100 innings has pitched that many fastballs. And Colon's fastball only averages 90 mph. 

How does he do it? He is doing what he has done his entire career, pounding the corners of the zone, and either getting called strikes or getting hitters to swing and make weak contact on pitches outside the zone.

Colon is scheduled to pitch next Tuesday on the road against the Royals, where he will attempt to lengthen his streak. He has a career record 170-122 and a 4.06 ERA. Very respectable numbers for a starter of his quality and longevity.

Bartolo Colon is from Altamira, DR.

Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon, by Keith Allison on Flickr

Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon has stem cell surgery on elbow. Is this surgery a Performance Enhancing Drug?

Earlier this May, the Dominican Baseball Guy blogged that Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon had off-season regenerative surgery using stem cells on his elbow.  Do you think this is in the same class as performance enhancing drugs?

Well, first off the Dominican Baseball Guy would say yes.  This surgery is not offered in the United States.  This type of surgery normally uses human growth hormones, but since MLB outlaws these hormones, the doctors used Colon's own stem cells from his back.  Sounds pretty similar to PED to the Dominican Baseball Guy.

But, the procedure is not illegal, under MLB rules.  So, the Dominican Baseball Guy cannot chide Colon for breaking MLB rules.  Much like in the pre-steroid era, Colon is playing within the rules, even though it may not be in the spirit of the game.

And most recently, the doctor who performed the surgery has said that up to ten pitchers have inquired about the surgery.  It is obviously against the spirit of "no PEDs."  Let's get this figured out and into the next MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement please, before we have a post-stem cell era.

Colon is from Altamira, DR.  He is in his 14th big league season this year with the Yankees.

 Colon with the White Sox in 2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr

MLB investigating Bartolo Colon off season surgery

Bartolo Colon is off to a good start this season.  The Yankees signed him to a one year contract in the off season after he was out of the big leagues in 2010.  Thus far, he is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts.

His off season surgery which took place in the Dominican Republic has come under scrutiny by MLB.  Dr. Joseph R. Purita flew to the Dominican Republic from Miami to assist a team of doctors in the elbow surgery.  The team apparently injected stem cells from Colon's back into his elbow to repair ligament damage.  Purita normally uses Human Growth Hormones to perform such surgeries, but in this case used Colon's own stem cells due to MLB rules.

Yankee GM Brian Cashman heard about the procedure through Colon's agent, and reported it to MLB.  The procedure is now under investigation by the league because it could be an offense warranting suspension if Human Growth Hormones were in fact used.  For now, the procedure seems to be a perfectly legal aid in Colon's bounce back year, but it could lead to a suspension if it violated MLB rules.

Colon is from Altamira, DR.

Colon with the White Sox in 2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr