Joe Sheehan: “Dominican players are getting popped at more than three times their representation in the baseball population. They are responsible for almost all the repeat offenses as well — six of eight, with Dominican Jennry Mejia the only player to test positive three times. They have been responsible for 14 of the last 18 suspensions, repeaters included, since 2018.”
Will Leitch writes: Only Tatis Jr. knows, but it’s worth noting that, as baseball writer Joe Sheehan pointed out in his newsletter, of the last 18 MLB players to be busted for using PEDs since 2008, 14 of them are, like Tatis Jr., from the Dominican Republic, despite only making up 12 percent of the player pool. Sheehan notes: “Something is getting lost in translation in this process. Unless you want to argue that Dominicans are just three times as likely to cheat as Americans are — an argument that would have gotten you a deserved beating in my old neighborhood — you have to see that there is a systemic failure happening here.” Certainly there’s more going on than just “he’s a drug cheat.”
