MLB News: National MLB Reporter Slams Fernando Tatis Jr. For His 'Lie'

National MLB writer and insider Jon Heyman slammed Fernando Tatis Jr. for lying about what caused the positive steroid test that led to his suspension.

When Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended late last week, he put out a statement claiming that his positive steroid test was the result of a medication he had taken for ringworm.

MLB insider Jon Heyman was not impressed.

Saying that Tatis "needs to employ better liars," Heyman explained:

"Tatis said he “inadvertently” took the performance enhancing drug Clostebol to treat ringworm, and apparently either he, his agent or his marketing guy thought the world would mistake Clostebol, the synthetic anabolic steroid he was caught with, for Clobetasol, a common drug used to treat skin ailments like eczema and psoriasis that also requires a prescription. Clostebol is never prescribed for skin defects or ringworm. Of course, had there actually been a medical mix-up – extremely unlikely since one is a Schedule 4 anabolic steroid and the other a common corticosteroid – he’d have documentary proof since he’d have the prescription from the doctor."

Tatis's statement has unlocked the world of dermatologists who got their medical degrees at the University of Twitter, but actual dermatologists have backed up the fact that Tatis's lie makes no sense.

Okay, dermatologist speaking here:

1) We do not use Clostebol. We frequently prescribe *Clobetasol*, a potent topical steroid.

2) Clobetasol, which calms down the immune system, makes ringworm much *worse*, and is the absolute last thing we'd use for it. https://t.co/j25mWPByyG

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) August 13, 2022

Heyman pulled no punches in discussing Tatis's "ridiculous lie."

"Tatis did say one believable thing in his statement, proclaiming he was “completely devastated” by his transgression, which we assume is true. Because he is now forever known as just another cheat among the long pantheon of cheats who have populated the game. A select few cheats show some real remorse or a hint of honesty. To this point Tatis is not one of those."

And, of course, Heyman raises the perfectly reasonable question of how long Tatis has been juicing and how much of his success on the field has been the result of that cheating.

"The biggest question now is: How long has this been going on? More to the point, do we think it’s conceivable he just decided to enhance his performance via drugs while on the injured list and well after he’d already signed his $340 million deal? Or did he win his record deal partly via medicinal means?

Tatis had some amazing achievements leading up to his record contract. And now we all have to wonder about it, and them. "

Tatis's suspension is an ugly situation for baseball, but especially for Tatis. As Heyman says, "A select few cheats show some real remorse or a hint of honesty. To this point Tatis is not one of those."

Tatis will presumably be back with the Padres about a month into the 2023 season, and we'll see what happens at that point. Carelessness off the field led to Tatis missing the first two-thirds of the 2022 season, but now that we've learned what will cost him the rest of the year, it's hard to disagree with Heyman's closing assessment:

Sadly, as it turns out, carelessness appears to be the least of his weaknesses.