For the second time in the last five months, the Cleveland Indians have lost a 2016 draft pick to a violation of the minor league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program.
On Thursday, it was announced that five minor league players had been given 50-game suspensions for various infractions. Included on the list was Cleveland’s 19th round pick from the June draft, right-handed pitcher Dakody Clemmer.
Clemmer joined another pitcher, left-hander and 24th round pick Skylar Arias, in receiving a suspension since joining the organization over the summer. Arias received a 56-game ban on August 15 for a positive test for the substance Nandrolone.
The suspension of Clemmer was listed as a violation of a drug of abuse, which indicates a second positive test for the pitching prospect.
Clemmer is a 20-year-old right-hander out of Central Arizona College. He profiled as a hard-throwing relief option with a mid-90s fastball and a healthy strikeout rate in junior college. The Indians inked him for $100,000 on June 20, getting him to forgo a commitment to play at the University of Nevada.
He made 17 relief appearances for the Indians’ rookie league club in Arizona this season, posting a 1-0 record and a 7.71 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He worked 18 2/3 innings, giving up 21 hits, 13 walks, and four hit batters while striking out 21. Opposing hitters batted .288. He allowed just one of nine inherited runners to score.
The Vancouver, Washington, native will turn 21 in January.
Photo: Central Arizona College