Red Sox extra innings: Sox minor leaguer suspended for performance-enhancing drugs
Red Sox minor league pitcher Charlie Zink has been suspended 56 games without pay after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Stanozolol, MLB announced Friday night.
Zink was one of two minor leaguers to face discipline, with the other being Seattle Mariners minor leaguer Yeury Tatiz, who was suspended 80 games after testing positive for Clomiphene.
Currently a member of the Red Sox Dominican Summer League club, Zink is an 18-year-old right-hander who signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent this past December out of Curacao. Zink has appeared in four professional games in the DSL since debuting in June, and so far he’s allowed six earned runs in 6.1 innings (8.53 ERA) while issuing seven walks and posting five strikeouts.
Extra innings
Triston Casas has taken a small step forward in his hitting progression and is expected to start playing soft toss and hitting off a tee. … Alex Cora says the club plans to figure out Vaughn Grissom’s plans for a rehab assignment in the coming days, but that it won’t begin until at least after the All-Star break. … This weekend marks a Fenway Park homecoming for several former Red Sox players, including right-handers Michael Wacha and John Schreiber and outfielder Hunter Renfroe.