Patricia Watkins 
Published on:
Los Angeles (AFP) – Baltimore Orioles pitcher Matt Harvey was suspended for 60 games by Major League Baseball on Tuesday, three months after he admitted supplying banned drugs to the late Los Angeles Angels former teammate Tyler Skaggs.
A statement from the office of Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Harvey was suspended without pay for “participating in the distribution of an illicit drug in violation of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program of Major League Baseball”.
The suspension is retroactive to April 29. No other details were included in MLB’s statement.
The decision comes after Harvey spoke at the trial of former Angels employee Eric Kay in February.
Testifying for the prosecution after being granted immunity, Harvey said he gave the painkiller Percocet to Skaggs in 2019.
Skaggs died in a hotel room in Texas in July 2019 after choking on his vomit while under the influence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol, drugs allegedly supplied to him by Kay.
Kay, the former Angels communications director, was convicted at his trial in February of distributing a controlled substance causing death and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
He faces at least 20 years in prison when sentenced next month.
In a separate announcement Tuesday, MLB said it had issued an 80-game suspension to Milwaukee Brewers pitcher JC Mejia.
Mejia had been suspended after testing positive for the banned steroid Stanozolol. Mejia’s suspension takes effect immediately.
© 2022 AFP
