Zach Collier suspended 50 games for positive amphetamine test

Collier, Zach

Per Matt Gelb and Todd Zolecki on twitter (if someone can copy/paste the link, I’ll add it here), Zach Collier was suspended 50 games for a positive amphetamine test. This is a pretty big blow, as Collier had experienced an excellent bouneback season after missing all of 2010 through injury. Lets save the character assassinations and over the top overreactions to the news for another time, but this isn’t a great development.

44 thoughts on “Zach Collier suspended 50 games for positive amphetamine test”

    1. I don’t think they actually announce the substance. “Amphetamine” is a broad term that covers a lot of different drugs. It could have been Adderall or any number of other things.

      I’m sure he took it because he was wearing down physically, this being his first full season. That doesn’t make it right or excuse him from getting caught, but that seems like the logical rationale.

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      1. Actually he played more games in 09 then he played this year. So it’s not exactly his first full season.

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    2. Yeah. As some of the older players tell it, this stuff was put out in bowls before games back in the 70s and 80s.

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  3. This is a MAJOR blow………..IMO this was going to be the most important year for Collier, and now he loses about 40% of the season to this suspension……….not too mention it puts more doubts about him as a player……….too many athletes have lied about PED substances for me to ever to believe them when they then fail a test, plus VERY FEW American born MiLB players test positive, it is a much bigger issue with Latin-American players since there may be a mis-understanding of what is not allowed, plus the things they take back home have a higher chance of being mis-labeled………….I will not write Collier off, but this drops him down big time in my prospect list as well as the Phils, IMO.

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  6. I would rather err on the side of taking wrong drug then intentionally taking the drug, they check often and to be that foolish this far along in your career is a terrible lack of judgement. I truly hope it is a mistake, but suspending for 50 games they must have just reason.

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  7. Good point phuturephillies. A lot of people jumped all over Tyson Gillies when he was busted last year. Let’s wait and see what happens here, although it certainly doesn’t look good.

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  8. Different than the Gillies situation who was arrested but never tested positive for anything nor was he convicted. The fact that Collier was suspended 50 games means that his test was positive more than once. There’s really little doubt about his guilt.

    Big blow to his career but not something he can’t overcome.

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  9. Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Larry Bowa they all munches ‘Greenies’ like candy before games.
    If you were batting against J.R. Richard it was a life saving requirement.

    Nothing to over react to. Could be many things. Move along, nothing to see here. Looking forward to having you back next year.

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      1. Just b/c it was legal then doesn’t diminish the fact that they still did them to get a performance advantage.

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  10. “Excellent” bounceback season? Excellent? He hit .255 with one home run. Are our standards so low that those figures are considered to be excellent?

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    1. I agree. Collier’s season has gotten way more acclaim than it deserves. He’s shown little power and fringy plate discipline.

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      2. He had a hot streak that got people excited and then no one checked back up on him. His 2nd half wasn’t very good.

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  11. Yeah, his season was okay, not excellent. It was good to see him do some of the things that made him an interesting prospect in the first place and he’s still pretty young. But no doubt this hurts his development. It’s almost like another injury setback.

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  12. That’ll drop him out of the top 10 for sure. Shame as he basically missed two seasons and now will be missing part of a third. At least he should be able to stay active and participate in extended spring training.

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  13. some of the new 5 hour drinks have more stuff then amphemine.back in the seventys we took them all the time. to lose weight to stay up. to me they are no big deal. but are dangerous .when overused

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  14. From the Inquirer:
    “I’m loving it right now,” Collier told The Inquirer in May. “I’m really enjoying and appreciating the game. I feel like a different player than I was before. Collier described his 2010 as a disturbing time. “It was a dark place,” Collier told The Inquirer. “I was real depressed. I was hurt and I felt pressure because I thought I should be playing. I had surgery for the hamate bone before spring training, then I hurt my wrist and then I pulled my quad three times.”—–lets hope he gets it together next May/June and puts together a decent season in CLW.

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    1. I’m thinking that the fact that Lamar’s leaving is why Collier had to go out and get high.. He was depressed over the loss.

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      2. i was suggesting the “6 phillies suspended for PED in 2011″- most in MLB” and the handling of Dom Brown.
        Who was responsible, LaMar?

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  17. Honestly, and I know he was a darkhorse favorite thanks to his hot streak in May/June, I wasn’t ever all that impressed by him.

    No huge loss.

    What an idiot.

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  18. Let’s keep in perspective that, as a PED, amphetamines are not anabolic steroids in terms of enhancing performance potential. They are stimulants, much as caffeine, the difference being that no one would dare ban coffee (yes I know that they are more dangerous than coffee, but there are an enormous number of people who have caffeine induced arrythmias out there- all from this innocent drink).

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    1. Exactly. I question the wisdom of a 50-game suspension for a violation like this. Feels extremely punitive, like the Rockefeller drug laws.

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      1. It’s comparable if you think missing a third of a baseball season is the same as spending 10 years in jail and spending the rest of your life with a felony conviction.

        Millions of out there would lose their jobs for a similar positive drug test without a prescription to something that would cause the positive test.

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  19. The ethical part of this aside, this is similar developmentally to having an injury that keeps a kid off the field for 50 games. At Collier’s age and level, this is significant. If you’re looking for a bright side to this, he isn’t injured and can train hard. He’ll need it because he’s faling further and further behind. And I don’t want to hear any “Hewitt’s in the top 30” talk.

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  20. Ok then just let me know when we can begin participating in “character assassination”. I don’t want to jump on him before the proper amount of time has passed.
    Effing moron…..

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  21. Could be a pre-lift drink or even dietary supplement containing 1,3 dimeth which is pretty common. But is banned by mlb, and other similar organizations.

    Wish they would come out and say what type of amphetamine it was.

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  23. Half of the energy drinks and supplements out there contain things that are banned. It was probably accidental.

    Not saying it’s not stupid, but it’s not like he’s snorting lines of crank between innings.

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    1. That is my guess as well. Just a dumb mistake. Kid has had some bad luck though he could have been a little smarter here as well. He did not have a great season, but was good enough to think that he would jump to Clearwater and pick up some power as he got healthier and older.

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    2. I believe baseball has a list of banned supplements as well as a process for “checking out” items not on the list. It’s a dumb mistake.

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    3. Are the Phillies the lone organization in MLB that doesn’t employ any strength and conditioning coaches who’s job it is to know what is and what isn’t legal for their prospects to be taking??

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