Minor League Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks Minor Leaguer Hit with 80-Game Suspension For PEDs

Listher Sosa of the Dominican Republic is on the roster of the Triple-A Reno Aces.

Brady Farkas

A general view of an Arizona Diamondbacks hat and Rawlings glove in the dugout during the fifth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in 2023.
A general view of an Arizona Diamondbacks hat and Rawlings glove in the dugout during the fifth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in 2023. / Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images
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An Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguer has been hit with an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, according to Insider Francys Romero.

Dominican RHP Listher Sosa, who is currently on the roster of the Triple-A Reno Aces, has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Methandienone.

Sosa, 23, is not in the D'Backs Top 30 prospects, but he has had a solid minor league career to this point. He's gone 18-13 with a 3.85 ERA, serving as both a starter and a reliever. However, he's been almost a reliever exclusively since the 2021 season. He made 41 total appearances last season, including 31 at High-A. He's never pitched in Triple-A, despite being on the Aces roster.

Sosa likely doesn't profile in the D'Backs plans this season as a result of this suspension, so it will be curious to see how they handle things with him moving forward.

At the major league level, the Diamondbacks are coming off a third-place finish in the National League West. They missed the playoffs, finishing behind the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the World Series, beating the New York Yankees.

This year, the Diamondbacks feel optimistic about their chances of competing. They've signed former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to a multi-year deal and are hoping to get a full healthy year out of Jordan Montgomery and Eduardo Rodriguez.

The team just named longtime starting pitcher Zac Gallen as the Opening Day starter. That's coming up March 27 against the Chicago Cubs.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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