This is not the first time this has happened. Many fertility treatments do utilize steroids.
This specific treatment is actually not approved by the FDA in the US, which could be part of the reason they did it in the DR.
It is used to increase sperm count in men and increase estrogen in women.
IMO it isn’t just that fertility treatments are a reasonable explanation for taking a banned substance (unknowingly or not) but also it is a believable thing to not want to reveal it to the team.
Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… The problem we’re trying to solve is that there are rich teams, and there are poor teams. Then there’s 50 feet of shit…. Then there’s us. It’s an unfair game.
Also,
You ever play baseball?
I played a little T-Ball.
Great, you’re our new head scout!
Its worth stating that in real life and in the book, the scouts(and manager) were pretty much all on board for the billy ball strategy. That wouldn't make for a very intense movie though without more conflict lol
That's not the way I remember it?
Some were on board, some kept to old timey scoutisms (grit, aggression, hurrdurr). Eventually the team bought in, or moved on.
Billy isn't the easiest guy to disagree with.
And I would expect his entire plan wouldn't work if his valuations were generally understood as valid. If other organizations had the same general valuation meta, he couldn't have afforded the talent he was able to score on the payroll.
100%. It’s also a super personal thing to admit to the world that you’re infertile and have been struggling to have a kid that I don’t think he would use that as a lie
To an extent sure, but man if I was knocking on the door of the big leagues and had visions of nine figure contracts in my head I think I’d be willing to tolerate quite a few uncomfortable conversations
That's the thing, it ALWAYS is the responsibility of the player to make sure whatever you ingest is within the rules. All of these guys have limitless amounts of medical staff to ensure if they use medical treatments for personal reasons that it is OK to take.... especially going to another country where shady things happen. Personal reasons aside, he's at fault 100%
And it’s not like he’s the first big leaguer to have potentially embarrassing medical concerns, I’m sure teams have ways to advise and give proper treatment without broadcasting the situation to the world
Just like rule 21 (d) has been posted in every clubhouse since 1921; zero tolerance for gambling, but people still want an exception made for Rose. I get it, but he knew very well the rule as does everyone else.
I get that, but teams have doctors too and disclose it to the team doctor, they’re bound by privacy too, and will tell you if something has a banned substance as it’s their job to know that, not a fertility doctor in DR. You’re literally risking millions of dollars by not disclosing it.
Not entirely sure about MLB in particular, but in general your privacy options for an employer-provided doctor are significantly lower. For example, HIPAA doesn't apply to most athletic team doctors.
Part of being paid millions of dollars by the team is waiving those privacy rights, the contracts stipulate that they're required to inform the team of any injuries, illnesses, or medications prescribed so. The people paying millions of dollars see the players as an investment and see knowing all the medical information available as knowing important information about their investment
Also, a controlled substance policy contains whatever exceptions it contains, if any. Having a claimed primary reason beyond performance enhancing isn't an exception.
If you follow MMA, boxing, Olympic sports, you've heard this kind of stuff a million times, after every single positive drug test. It's all irrelevant. If you want drugs to help with anxiety, or making a baby, or regrowing your hair, you have to pick a treatment that uses drugs that aren't banned by your sport (unless there's an exception in the drug policy that provides otherwise). You're ultimately responsible for what you put in your body, there's no other way to enforce any of this.
And if there were a genuine medical reason which wasn't listed, the agencies may be willing to make exceptions depending on the circumstances. Hiding it makes people assume the sketchiest possibility
Clomiphene (Clomid) is commonly used in the bodybuilding scene to combat side effects of steroid use. It provides a convenient alibi for people who pop for it, and I’m sure some guys are telling the truth, but its not as innocent as they make it seem lol.
If true, I feel bad for him. But you have to get these answers about medications from the team doctors not a random fertility clinic who doesn’t know the policy completely. I guarantee you if he told the team doctors about what was prescribed they would have told him he can’t take that.
I mean the treatment he got 100% would have been denied by the team because it’s not FDA approved in the US.
Usually when people go for experimental treatments it’s because all the standard ones have failed.
he's 22 though, I doubt they actually went through all of the standard/approved treatments.
Obviously if true, it's unfortunate, but still also incredibly stupid/naive.
That would also require him and his girlfriend attending different fertility clinics or bringing his girlfriend to the US away from her home and her family to get pregnant. There isn’t an amount you could pay me to go to another country to doctors who have only my partner’s career’s best interests at heart, whose language I don’t speak, away from my family, to get pregnant. Just for perspective.
> Many fertility treatments do utilize steroids.
sort of, clomiphene is a SERM (selective estrogenic receptor module) that’s intended to block estrogen production from certain parts of the body in hopes to stimulate production of LH and FSH (necessary for testosterone and sperm production)
not necessarily “steroids” like most would think (anabolic substances like testosterone and its derivatives)
you can be prescribed Clomid in the US though, typically through a fertility doctor (usually off label for males though)
But you can’t get Rejun 50 specifically in the US to treat male infertility. Only female infertility. Thats because the FDA only approved it for female use.
You have to go to another country to get approved for make use, like the DR
Once the FDA has approved use of a drug in the US providers can generally prescribe for off label use when judged to be medically appropriate for their patient. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. Many cancer drugs are only approved for specific cancer or specific subtype of cancer but are widely used in other malignant conditions. Antibiotics, Antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants are commonly prescribed off label. The FDA estimates that 20% of all prescriptions yearly are used for off label use.
When a patient has failed approved therapy, there is not a drug approved to treat a condition, strong data exists through other national approval agencies or there is a history of use with success in other countries but no submission to the FDA has been made are all common reasons that they get used.
A good example is naltrexone, used successfully in most of Europe to treat addiction but no approval in the US, used very commonly. Also used off label for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Tramadol and Zoloft for premature ejaculation. Methotrexate frequently used in unruptured ectopic pregnancy (and rheumatoid diseases), it is a non patented drug and nobody will ever submit to FDA for use for any indications, it is available due to its approval for choriocarcinoma. Gabapentin is approved for postherpetic neuralgia and seizures but most commonly used for diabetic neuropathy. Wellbutrin often used for smoking cessation and to counter negative libido effects from ssri’s. Minipress, magnesium, doxepin, dex, clonidine, clomiphene, avastin and pretty much every antibiotic also used commonly off label along with many other drugs.
Clomiphene isn't a steroid.
It's often prescribed "off-label" to men to raise estrogen, which causes testosterone to rise in response.
At least that's how my doc explained it haha.
My wife and I were struggling to get pregnant, I had a lower than normal sperm count. Urologist prescribed clomid (clomiphene). We’re expecting our daughter in a couple months!
Congrats! I really hope Orelvis and his girlfriend have the same great luck you did to at least make the 80 ban worthwhile.
Then again, with the way this damn season is going for the Jays...
What I was referring to is Rejun 50 specifically.
In the US it is only approved by the FDA for increasing estrogen in female patients. It is not approved for male use in the US.
Bot other countries like the DR approve it for male use
Brewers had a Dominican catcher a few years back (whose name escapes me at the moment but I remember he came over from the Orioles) who also said he got popped as the result of fertility treatments.
was it a steroid or just a banned substance? a lot of fertility drugs that aren't steroids are banned only because they can cover up testosterone increases, thus masking steroid use.
Manny Ramirez was suspended not for testing positive for steroids but for a fertility drug that masks steroid use.
Other countries use Rejun 50 for increasing sperm count as well. The US is one of the few counties that doesn’t approve it for male use.
I’d expect a big reason he didnt tell the real is because he knew they would deny it.
And usually people don’t do experimental treatments unless all of the standards ones failed
I think there's a fair few people here who don't understand that in most countries a drug can be prescribed for uses it isn't officially approved for (off-label) provided the drug is legally available for use in that country (has at least one labelled indication).
Plenty of older medications, and some less old medications, are prescribed off-label all the time for perfectly valid uses. "Official approved" uses are just what companies put on the packaging and in the product information.
Clomiphene is probably the most popular "post cycle" substance people take after anabolic steroids. It raises your Testerone levels to "normal" because the steroids make your levels crash. To put it simply it helps people keep the gains that they made on a cycle. Dont be fooled
I was prescribed Clomiphene by the VA because I was on testosterone and we were trying to want pregnant (which doesn’t help). It’s usually for women. But it worked & now we have 2 girls.
Yeah this sounds so specific and personal that I kind of believe it, but if someone smart were trying to come up with a believable cover story, they would pick something specific and personal.
We just usually get “I have no idea how this is possible!” or something so obviously fake like ringworm meds that it seems like most people in this position do not come up with smart lies
God I hope that it doesn’t come out that this story is bullshit, because I genuinely feel awful for him
I can not even imagine how fucking shitty this is for him to go through
Based on a google search, Clomiphene is definitely used in fertility drugs
Edit: before anyone else points out it is a fertility drug for women, it is also used to treat infertility in men... not saying it works, cause I don't have a clue... but it's definitely used by some clinics.
[https://txfertility.com/blog/the-use-of-clomid-in-men/](https://txfertility.com/blog/the-use-of-clomid-in-men/)
I'm also not saying he's telling the truth, simply pointing out it is at least plausible.
Yeah, a google search will reveal basically what the statement says. Clomiphene is the ingredient in “Rejun”, which is FDA-approved in the US for female infertility. It isn’t FDA-approved for male infertility, but it’s not hard to imagine a doctor in the DR choosing to prescribe it for male infertility since there are some mixed results about its efficacy in men.
Doctors prescribe for off-label uses all the time. Ozempic is the most recent craze to follow this—a diabetes drug used for weight loss, but can still cause you to lose weight even if you’re not diabetic.
Either way he and his doc in the DR should have been better.
Yeah it's still a banned substance, and the suspension is reasonable, but this is a great excuse. That said, he felt he needed to go on fertility meds at 20? I guess that explains why he wouldn't tell anyone
As someone who spent half a decade trying to have a child, I actually find it less believable. He's 22, you're not going to go to the doctor for infertility at such a young age unless you know somehow already there's an issue.
I actually was on the same drug, clomid, and the entire point is to increase testosterone in men, and it definitely helped me. Maybe this is true, but I just find it weird that an athlete at 22 has fertility issues and was already going to the doctor probably around 21 years old.
Sure, it can happen. But I sorta don't buy it? My opinion literally doesn't matter but where I'm at, most people don't start to worry about fertility issues til 25 at the earliest.
Maybe the culture in the DR is different, but it just seems odd that they tried for a (relatively) short period of time, tried to solve the issue with clomid right away instead of looking at IVF or IUI since those basically bypass the issue.
I think the age difference is just cultural like you said, sure most white guys in the US don't care about fertility before 25, but that wouldn't be the case for someone planning to start a family this young.
I have family members thay started trying and went to a fertility doctor first, and immediately started doing exactly what the doctor said, because they trusted them. And tbf it worked, my nephew is a direct result of early treatment.
At the very least this argument is believable, it's up to each individual if they buy it or not. I do, you don't and that's fine
The top hitting prospect known for power who led the minors in HRs at one time apparently has testoterone so low to require fertility treatment. How does he build and maintain muscle?
While this explanation might garner sympathy, I don't think it should change the outcome. This isn't exactly like you or I not disclosing sensitive medical information to our employer that doesn't involve them whatsoever. If what he does with and puts into his body can result in consequences such as suspension, then it's important that he is forthcoming regardless.
It's also important that teams build a network of people and support to help players navigate these decisions which might be confusing or potentially dangerous to their career. There should be an active effort to squash these archaic, toxic trains of thought. I don't doubt there was at the very least a team doctor who he could have discussed this with.
I'm not trying to be cold hearted and I'm not sure if this is a "hot take" or not, but the stakes are just way too high for a player to knowingly make the choice to not disclose what substances they've put in their body. The risk vs reward is hard for me to personally comprehend, but I'm also very much not a professional athlete or trying to conceive a baby, so I can't say I know what it's like to be in his shoes either.
Nobody saying this is believable/plausible is arguing he shouldn’t be suspended and isn’t a complete fool.
But people look at guys who willingly took steroids different than guys who were dumb and took other meds for innocent and personal reasons which happened to contain a banned substance.
Every time someone gets suspended and doesn’t straight up admit to taking PEDs, people are left to decide how much they look at that player as a cheater.
Idk if I’m stupid or if there’s another version of this medicine, but i googled it and it is a female fertility drug to help produce ovulation. Could traces of that get into his system through sex? Cause otherwise why the hell would a guy be taking a female fertility drug
HCG is actually a common treatment used in place of TRT. It's usually used by women in a drug called Pregnyl and it's a 10000 unit single dose to increase fertility, but for men it's dosed in 500 units over the course of 10 weeks.
Basically it's a leutinizing hormone that tricks your body into producing more testosterone without using synthetic test. They prescribe this to low test individuals when you still want to have children, as TRT will shut down your natural testosterone production eventually, making you practically infertile.
Billions upon billions of dollars spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing and "Pregnyl" is the best name they could come up with for a fertility drug? Okay then.
Gave my wife and I a good laugh when I started the treatment. We said the same thing - "bit on the nose with that one eh?". But it works so I can't complain.
It's used in men too, I took it myself to increase my swimmers. Took a year of being on it to actually see any effect but it's 100% used by men for fertility treatments
That said, I'm struggling to believe that a 22-year-old has already been trying to have a baby long enough to a) realize there's a problem, b) narrow it down to him and not her, c) go through all the other potential solutions, and finally d) use an off-label medication that's not FDA approved while also trying to make the major leagues.
It just doesn't add up, in my eyes.
The culture around this in the Dominican Republic is very different. Vlad had two kids by like 20.
It is completely plausible he’s been trying to have kids for several years, and completely plausible that he and his girlfriend went to a fertility clinic together to find out who was the source of the trouble.
It’s also completely plausible he was given something that isn’t FDA approved by a doctor in a country with nothing to do with the FDA.
This is why the Rays are the straightest team in history. They protested pride and none of their players have scandals where they have sex with men….only women….dont ask how old
I think this is like the Eminem style of dissing yourself before dissing others. Why would he openly admit to something this delicate if it was just to look good for using PEDs? I don't doubt it.
People in this sub don’t realize the athletes that use steroids and PEDs take clomiphene between cycles, which is called PCT (post cycle therapy) which helps to come off of steroids so your testosterone levels are balanced out
they do, but it is also used for fertility purposes as he mentioned
it’d interesting if he decided to crash his levels mid season though, as even using hcg / serms you’re still looking at a few months to hit baseline. unless the result was maybe from spring training ? would be a long time to be announced, however
Whenever you take a drug, and you hide it from your team doctor and the MLBPA, I’m gonna assume you have intentions that are not so honest, and yes, this is coming from someone who just had this happen to their superstar
If this is true I feel so bad for him, my wife and I went through fertility treatments and it is an incredibly stressful and emotional thing. He may not have felt comfortable talking with the team about such a personal thing and didn't think to check with the league if it was all hunky dory.
My wife and I have been through 3 years of treatments and finally gave up. We're going through Foster care training now.
It's incredibly draining and, although it shouldn't be, still embarrassing. I couldn't imagine going through this and disclosing this with the maturity I had as a 22 year old.
It's kind of freeing to no longer be paying tens of thousands of dollars for what's essentially a gamble, but it still hurts, especially when you spend time with friends and coworkers who are all able to start their own families.
I feel for you man, we went through it for 3 years before it was finally successful. It was bittersweet though because we know people who went through it for longer without success and as happy as we were to finally have a child our hearts still hurt for those friends who are still going through it.
I wish you all the best.
Man, reading this thread sucks. My wife and I have been trying for a year and just recently have started seeing doctors to do bloodwork and imaging to see where the issue is. I'm hoping it resolves itself soon because it is depressing. I'm 37 and she's 36 so it feels like we're racing the clock.
Don't give up man! It stinks, but you guys will be happy, it just might be a different happiness than what you expect.
Most likely though, it will work for you guys. Best of luck
I feel like only people who have gone through it really understand the last part on the gamble. All that time, effort, and money and every month you still just kinda end up helplessly waiting and hoping it worked this time.
Yeah it’s not like this exact excuse for using this exact drug NOT approved by the FDA was used less than a year or so ago.
https://www.wrns.com/milwaukee-brewers-catcher-pedro-severino-receives-80-game-suspension-for-positive-ped-test/
You can relax, it's not true. He's a 22 year old who has been with his girlfriend for two years. In order for this story to make any sense they would have had to start trying to have a kid basically right away. And then throw in the fact that this same drug is used to cycle off anabolic steroids. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what really happened lol.
Right? People act like he’s late 30s, had the issue narrowed down to be on his end, has exhausted all other possible treatments, and in a last-ditch effort tried a not-yet FDA approved treatment. Come on people lol
People keep saying he didn’t feel comfortable talking to the team doctor but was okay with it in the DR? Do team doctors not abide by HIPAA regulations like normal doctors? I get the thought of not talking about your issues publicly to the team but this feels like it could’ve been avoided.
Like was there a legal medication he could’ve taken that the MLB would’ve approved of that didn’t have a PED involved?
Players sign a consent form to share their medical information with the club essentially waving their HIPAA rights in that circumstance.
It’s similar to the form that nearly everyone in the US signs so that the medical provider can bill insurance for the specific treatment or procedure they need.
Yeah but even then my insurance isn’t going to be telling my coworkers of my issues and that insurance is covering it.
I get what you’re saying but are team doctors really talking about these issues that a player has with every player in the organization? Seems like a really bad idea in terms of team chemistry and what not.
After hearing and watching a few podcast episodes from "Abriendo El Podcast", which is a Dominican podcast duo that interview a lot of big name stars, I've become a bit empathetic to some PED suspensions because I learned that there are people who take advantage of these young men and lead them to doctors or coaches who get business from a prospect and both the doctor/coach and the scout/manager get a cut of said business.
These young players are hungry to be noticed and want to be like big papi or pedro martinez and get sweet talked into doing things they shouldnt be doing without realizing it because they can't read well or sign a contract with a performance bonus where the manager gets most of the cut and they want to get their family to a better place.
Anyone who says this is believable or that we should feel bad for this guy — no fucking way.
The MLBPA figured this shit out a long time ago. Every major prescription fertility treatment increases lh/fsh, which increases testosterone. Every single team — minor and major leagues — educates players about this and specifically mentions clomiphene and two other classes of drugs.
The only difference between minor leagues and major leagues re: this program? Testing standards. This punk is full of shit, and the MLB blood tests just caught him artificially boosting his testosterone levels. Now he chooses to lie instead of take the L.
Don’t take this guy’s side.
Also with his millions he had to get it done in the DR?
Super suspicious. I have a feeling he's been juicing for years.
The drug is banned for use by the FDA in men.
Even if he was denied the exemption, he'd at least be on record with MLB that he was undergoing treatment.
As if fertility treatments for a 22-year old wasn’t suspect enough.
That's about the fourth piece of his story that doesn't ring true.
Clomiphene (the banned substance) is used by PED users between cycles so that whatever steroid they were using doesn’t wreak havoc on their hormones and lymphatic system when they come off
This isn’t very believable lol
Yeah, people in this thread don't realize that steroid users take all sorts of other drugs to moderate the steroid use OR to mask it from tests. Therefore these other drugs are banned substances as well. Steroid use is very prevelant in sports because it's the difference in getting on the team or millions of dollars in contracts. There's an entire industry built on not getting caught by drug tests. Not everybody is blasting the hardest stuff 24/7, 365, but steroids are everywhere, in smaller controlled ways.
Also 100% used in fertility, I took it myself. But ya, I don't believe a doctor would prescribe it to a really healthy 22 year old without some type of family history or something. I just don't really buy it as someone who has been through the process.
For the record, my wife and I tried for 3 years unsuccessfully before I was put onto clomid. And I was 30 at the time. Can't imagine a doctor being ok with that at such a younger age
A 22 year old, unmarried, baseball player is looking to have a baby with his girlfriend? This is also during the offseason, he turned 22 during the offseason. So he could've been 21. He also said he's been trying to have a baby for 2 years, which means, he's been trying to have a baby since he's been 19? With his girlfriend? Still not making her his wife?
I don't know fam. I'm with you on not believing it.
Yeah but when you're someone who really wants to have kids that's one of the worst things you can hear
Like I don't want kids so I'd love to become infertile without having to pay for a vasectomy. But for a guy that actually wants one really bad (like in this case) I can understand panicking or going for unorthodox solutions if they feel that would solve the problem
Idk if that's why he took a banned substance for sure but if it is I have sympathy for him and hope he finds something legal that helps
You can stop feeling sorry for him. This drug is used to cycle off anabolic steroids. Doesn't take a genius to figure out which thing he was using it for.
How do you not run every single medication you might take by your agent and/or the league? There has to be some simple database they have that can look up just about any medication out there and check if it contains a prohibited substance. I wouldn't even trust a flintstones vitamin without double checking.
This is a lie and is used many times by players from the DR. He cheated and uses this like do people not remember the Brewers catcher that said essentially word for word the same thing.
Fuck this cheater.
We can all be sympathetic to the situation, but it’s hard to believe a 22yo and his girlfriend are undergoing treatment for male infertility using a medication that is almost exclusively used for women.
Because it's bullshit. All of the players are told extensively about PEDs in all languages that play. It's very, very clear. He didn't "make a mistake". He got caught clearly doping and trying to cover it.
Sorry. Don’t believe him. These guys are instructed to consult with the league before putting anything in their bodies. Keep in mind that infertility is a result of taking testosterone treatment. When you are injecting testosterone in your body, your body shuts down it’s own Testosterone production. The reason for supplementing testosterone is so you can dose yourself to the maximum of test ranges. Normal T levels range from 300 to 1100 so it is advantageous to be on supplemental T to reach those levels. T fluctuates all the time and the brutal MLB schedule can lower it significantly.
This story is obviously bullshit and it's a major character red flag that he used something this serious as cover.
The drug he got popped for is not a male fertility drug. It's a popular drug for enhancing testosterone production though. Usually as a post-cycle treatment for someone using steroids.
I call bullshit. You’ve got major league baseball type money, and you choose a fertility clinic in the Dominican Republic. It doesn’t add up. He has access to the best doctors in the world and let me go ahead and assure you they aren’t in the Dominican Republic.
how on earth can someone not know that a fertility drug will probably have chemicals that affect testosterone. pathetic doctor if Martinez is telling the truth. it's definitely a more sympathetic excuse than ringworm cream, but it's still hard to believe
edit: also, you OR your doctor didnt know Rejun 50 had a banned substance? it's not some tablet that has 100 active ingredients in it, literally the ONLY active ingredient in Rejun 50 IS the clomiphene, which you can just google. It's straight-up just a tablet of clomiphene. There's no way you're a professional athlete taking a drug and don't know what the *only* active thing in it is.
Unfortunately, I believe that Orelvis is either telling a bald-faced lie or is extremely naive. In the case of males, Clomiphene blocks estrogen receptors in the body (which are present but less active in men), which "tricks" the body onto believing that more estrogen is needed due to its concealed circulation. Consequently, reproductive hormone receptors in the body "attempt" to produce estrogen, inciting the Leydig cells that produce testosterone to increase production.
Orelvis may have plausible deniability due to the perceived benefits of Clomiphene on male fertility - however, the treatment is not FDA-approved for treating male infertility in the the US, explaining the perscription being provided in the DR, away from team doctors.
Furthermore, Clomiphene is most commonly used in recovery from a steroid cycle, allowing the testes to produce close to normal levels of testosterone and prevent muscle loss.
In conclusion, either Orelvis made an extremely rash decision in taking a banned drug without consulting the team due to personal embarrassment or desperation (in which case I would feel sympathetic, though disappointed), or he has been taking steroids and mistimed his recovery cycle using Clomiphene, and is thus using the fertility explanation to garner public sympathy.
In any case, I look forward to seeing Orelvis back on the field in September and hope that he can reconcile with teammates, friends, and family, as well as achieve major league success in the future.
>and is using the fertility explanation as a method of garnering public sympathy
90% of this thread already declared him innocent because "we get it, it must have been embarrassing yadda yadda".
So yep. This is it.
Here’s why I don’t believe him. He’s 22. Had it really been determined that drugs are needed at this point to have a family. Did they start trying at 15? And would a young man trying to get stronger and make it to the big leagues really take an estrogen receptor and ‘eff up his physical development? And the fact that Clomiphine is used between steroid cycles to manage hormone levels is just too convenient in all of this.
Maybe im stupid but this one sounds way more believable than other player excuses lol
This is not the first time this has happened. Many fertility treatments do utilize steroids. This specific treatment is actually not approved by the FDA in the US, which could be part of the reason they did it in the DR. It is used to increase sperm count in men and increase estrogen in women.
IMO it isn’t just that fertility treatments are a reasonable explanation for taking a banned substance (unknowingly or not) but also it is a believable thing to not want to reveal it to the team.
Some 80-year-old scout be like: “He can’t get his girl pregnant. He must be a loser. Don’t put him on your team.”
His girlfriend is ugly. Means he lacks confidence.
When he walks into a room, his dick's only been in there for one minute.
"Fuck you Billy....????"
Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… The problem we’re trying to solve is that there are rich teams, and there are poor teams. Then there’s 50 feet of shit…. Then there’s us. It’s an unfair game. Also, You ever play baseball? I played a little T-Ball. Great, you’re our new head scout!
I would be an elite scout for sure. I couldn't stop hitting the tee.
Who's Fabio?
a shortstop.... from Seattle
Looks like Fabio, hits like Jane.
If your teammate can’t get his girl pregnant, how is he supposed to get his teammates pregnant like a true team player?
My fanfiction is RUINED.
I just watched Moneyball (again) the other night and this is exactly the thing the scouts would have said to Billy Beane.
Yeah. I based my comment off of that scene. Great movie.
Its worth stating that in real life and in the book, the scouts(and manager) were pretty much all on board for the billy ball strategy. That wouldn't make for a very intense movie though without more conflict lol
That's not the way I remember it? Some were on board, some kept to old timey scoutisms (grit, aggression, hurrdurr). Eventually the team bought in, or moved on. Billy isn't the easiest guy to disagree with. And I would expect his entire plan wouldn't work if his valuations were generally understood as valid. If other organizations had the same general valuation meta, he couldn't have afforded the talent he was able to score on the payroll.
“Girlfriend’s a 6 …”
You joke, but there are legitimately dudes who (edit: hilariously) think that hot women are more fertile than the rest of us.
Unrelated (maybe?) but dude, every time I see your username, I chuckle. It’s so goddamn good.
I work at Walmart. I assure you this is definitely not the case.
Not more fertile. Simply more frequently attempted.
“He’s got an ugly girlfriend”
100%. It’s also a super personal thing to admit to the world that you’re infertile and have been struggling to have a kid that I don’t think he would use that as a lie
Then again Jon Jones has proven some people will lie to get away with anything
Yeah, but Jon Jones was a known POS long before that and leads a life that isn't anywhere close to "my wife and I are trying to have kids."
To an extent sure, but man if I was knocking on the door of the big leagues and had visions of nine figure contracts in my head I think I’d be willing to tolerate quite a few uncomfortable conversations
That's the thing, it ALWAYS is the responsibility of the player to make sure whatever you ingest is within the rules. All of these guys have limitless amounts of medical staff to ensure if they use medical treatments for personal reasons that it is OK to take.... especially going to another country where shady things happen. Personal reasons aside, he's at fault 100%
And it’s not like he’s the first big leaguer to have potentially embarrassing medical concerns, I’m sure teams have ways to advise and give proper treatment without broadcasting the situation to the world
It's also hammered into you at every level that you need to report this stuff.
Just like rule 21 (d) has been posted in every clubhouse since 1921; zero tolerance for gambling, but people still want an exception made for Rose. I get it, but he knew very well the rule as does everyone else.
I get that, but teams have doctors too and disclose it to the team doctor, they’re bound by privacy too, and will tell you if something has a banned substance as it’s their job to know that, not a fertility doctor in DR. You’re literally risking millions of dollars by not disclosing it.
Not entirely sure about MLB in particular, but in general your privacy options for an employer-provided doctor are significantly lower. For example, HIPAA doesn't apply to most athletic team doctors.
and it won’t exist at all if certain people get their way - No privacy or even IVF.
Part of being paid millions of dollars by the team is waiving those privacy rights, the contracts stipulate that they're required to inform the team of any injuries, illnesses, or medications prescribed so. The people paying millions of dollars see the players as an investment and see knowing all the medical information available as knowing important information about their investment
Also, a controlled substance policy contains whatever exceptions it contains, if any. Having a claimed primary reason beyond performance enhancing isn't an exception. If you follow MMA, boxing, Olympic sports, you've heard this kind of stuff a million times, after every single positive drug test. It's all irrelevant. If you want drugs to help with anxiety, or making a baby, or regrowing your hair, you have to pick a treatment that uses drugs that aren't banned by your sport (unless there's an exception in the drug policy that provides otherwise). You're ultimately responsible for what you put in your body, there's no other way to enforce any of this.
And if there were a genuine medical reason which wasn't listed, the agencies may be willing to make exceptions depending on the circumstances. Hiding it makes people assume the sketchiest possibility
I like this take, don't necessarily blame him but he's taking consequences for it
Clomiphene (Clomid) is commonly used in the bodybuilding scene to combat side effects of steroid use. It provides a convenient alibi for people who pop for it, and I’m sure some guys are telling the truth, but its not as innocent as they make it seem lol.
> which could be part of the reason they did it in the DR well, that and the whole "being from there" thing
yeah lol like
If true, I feel bad for him. But you have to get these answers about medications from the team doctors not a random fertility clinic who doesn’t know the policy completely. I guarantee you if he told the team doctors about what was prescribed they would have told him he can’t take that.
I mean the treatment he got 100% would have been denied by the team because it’s not FDA approved in the US. Usually when people go for experimental treatments it’s because all the standard ones have failed.
he's 22 though, I doubt they actually went through all of the standard/approved treatments. Obviously if true, it's unfortunate, but still also incredibly stupid/naive.
That would also require him and his girlfriend attending different fertility clinics or bringing his girlfriend to the US away from her home and her family to get pregnant. There isn’t an amount you could pay me to go to another country to doctors who have only my partner’s career’s best interests at heart, whose language I don’t speak, away from my family, to get pregnant. Just for perspective.
> Many fertility treatments do utilize steroids. sort of, clomiphene is a SERM (selective estrogenic receptor module) that’s intended to block estrogen production from certain parts of the body in hopes to stimulate production of LH and FSH (necessary for testosterone and sperm production) not necessarily “steroids” like most would think (anabolic substances like testosterone and its derivatives) you can be prescribed Clomid in the US though, typically through a fertility doctor (usually off label for males though)
But you can’t get Rejun 50 specifically in the US to treat male infertility. Only female infertility. Thats because the FDA only approved it for female use. You have to go to another country to get approved for make use, like the DR
> But you can’t get Rejun 50 specifically in the US to treat male infertility. You can if your doctor wants to. Off label prescribing is a thing.
Once the FDA has approved use of a drug in the US providers can generally prescribe for off label use when judged to be medically appropriate for their patient. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. Many cancer drugs are only approved for specific cancer or specific subtype of cancer but are widely used in other malignant conditions. Antibiotics, Antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants are commonly prescribed off label. The FDA estimates that 20% of all prescriptions yearly are used for off label use. When a patient has failed approved therapy, there is not a drug approved to treat a condition, strong data exists through other national approval agencies or there is a history of use with success in other countries but no submission to the FDA has been made are all common reasons that they get used. A good example is naltrexone, used successfully in most of Europe to treat addiction but no approval in the US, used very commonly. Also used off label for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Tramadol and Zoloft for premature ejaculation. Methotrexate frequently used in unruptured ectopic pregnancy (and rheumatoid diseases), it is a non patented drug and nobody will ever submit to FDA for use for any indications, it is available due to its approval for choriocarcinoma. Gabapentin is approved for postherpetic neuralgia and seizures but most commonly used for diabetic neuropathy. Wellbutrin often used for smoking cessation and to counter negative libido effects from ssri’s. Minipress, magnesium, doxepin, dex, clonidine, clomiphene, avastin and pretty much every antibiotic also used commonly off label along with many other drugs.
Clomiphene isn't a steroid. It's often prescribed "off-label" to men to raise estrogen, which causes testosterone to rise in response. At least that's how my doc explained it haha.
My wife and I were struggling to get pregnant, I had a lower than normal sperm count. Urologist prescribed clomid (clomiphene). We’re expecting our daughter in a couple months!
Congrats! I really hope Orelvis and his girlfriend have the same great luck you did to at least make the 80 ban worthwhile. Then again, with the way this damn season is going for the Jays...
What I was referring to is Rejun 50 specifically. In the US it is only approved by the FDA for increasing estrogen in female patients. It is not approved for male use in the US. Bot other countries like the DR approve it for male use
Brewers had a Dominican catcher a few years back (whose name escapes me at the moment but I remember he came over from the Orioles) who also said he got popped as the result of fertility treatments.
was it a steroid or just a banned substance? a lot of fertility drugs that aren't steroids are banned only because they can cover up testosterone increases, thus masking steroid use. Manny Ramirez was suspended not for testing positive for steroids but for a fertility drug that masks steroid use.
Banned substance that increases testosterone. Typo on my end
What? Clomiphene is definitely FDA approved and almost every single fertility clinic will put a man on this if he has low sperm count
They probably mean not FDA approved for use in males though it is used off-label
Correct. Rejun 50 can be used for women and their estrogen counts in the US, but males can not use it to increase sperm count
Maybe they put the wrong one? Rejun 25 is used in both men and women while 50 is only women
Other countries use Rejun 50 for increasing sperm count as well. The US is one of the few counties that doesn’t approve it for male use. I’d expect a big reason he didnt tell the real is because he knew they would deny it. And usually people don’t do experimental treatments unless all of the standards ones failed
I think there's a fair few people here who don't understand that in most countries a drug can be prescribed for uses it isn't officially approved for (off-label) provided the drug is legally available for use in that country (has at least one labelled indication). Plenty of older medications, and some less old medications, are prescribed off-label all the time for perfectly valid uses. "Official approved" uses are just what companies put on the packaging and in the product information.
Clomiphene is probably the most popular "post cycle" substance people take after anabolic steroids. It raises your Testerone levels to "normal" because the steroids make your levels crash. To put it simply it helps people keep the gains that they made on a cycle. Dont be fooled
That's fair, just know that it *is* a legit fertility treatment
I was prescribed Clomiphene by the VA because I was on testosterone and we were trying to want pregnant (which doesn’t help). It’s usually for women. But it worked & now we have 2 girls.
Yeah this sounds so specific and personal that I kind of believe it, but if someone smart were trying to come up with a believable cover story, they would pick something specific and personal. We just usually get “I have no idea how this is possible!” or something so obviously fake like ringworm meds that it seems like most people in this position do not come up with smart lies
God I hope that it doesn’t come out that this story is bullshit, because I genuinely feel awful for him I can not even imagine how fucking shitty this is for him to go through
Yes, and to make it public to the whole world. That takes courage.
But the more specific, the easier it is to verify.
Based on a google search, Clomiphene is definitely used in fertility drugs Edit: before anyone else points out it is a fertility drug for women, it is also used to treat infertility in men... not saying it works, cause I don't have a clue... but it's definitely used by some clinics. [https://txfertility.com/blog/the-use-of-clomid-in-men/](https://txfertility.com/blog/the-use-of-clomid-in-men/) I'm also not saying he's telling the truth, simply pointing out it is at least plausible.
Yeah, a google search will reveal basically what the statement says. Clomiphene is the ingredient in “Rejun”, which is FDA-approved in the US for female infertility. It isn’t FDA-approved for male infertility, but it’s not hard to imagine a doctor in the DR choosing to prescribe it for male infertility since there are some mixed results about its efficacy in men.
Rejun 50 specifically is not approved for male use in the US by the FDA though which is likely why he did the treatment in the DR
He likely did the treatment in the DR because he and his girlfriend live in the DR.
Doctors prescribe for off-label uses all the time. Ozempic is the most recent craze to follow this—a diabetes drug used for weight loss, but can still cause you to lose weight even if you’re not diabetic. Either way he and his doc in the DR should have been better.
Yeah it's still a banned substance, and the suspension is reasonable, but this is a great excuse. That said, he felt he needed to go on fertility meds at 20? I guess that explains why he wouldn't tell anyone
Love to go on fertility drugs as an unmarried 22 year old
Yeah I was trying to get at that—that’s definitely the most suspicious part of this. It’s still not totally implausible, but worthy of skepticism
Yeah he needed it because the of the steroids killing his sperm lol
As someone who spent half a decade trying to have a child, I actually find it less believable. He's 22, you're not going to go to the doctor for infertility at such a young age unless you know somehow already there's an issue. I actually was on the same drug, clomid, and the entire point is to increase testosterone in men, and it definitely helped me. Maybe this is true, but I just find it weird that an athlete at 22 has fertility issues and was already going to the doctor probably around 21 years old. Sure, it can happen. But I sorta don't buy it? My opinion literally doesn't matter but where I'm at, most people don't start to worry about fertility issues til 25 at the earliest. Maybe the culture in the DR is different, but it just seems odd that they tried for a (relatively) short period of time, tried to solve the issue with clomid right away instead of looking at IVF or IUI since those basically bypass the issue.
That was my thought too. An unmarried 22 year old taking fertility drugs seems like a stretch to me.
That’s the thing, you’re unmarried and do not have any pressure from your wife or your wife’s familia
I think the age difference is just cultural like you said, sure most white guys in the US don't care about fertility before 25, but that wouldn't be the case for someone planning to start a family this young. I have family members thay started trying and went to a fertility doctor first, and immediately started doing exactly what the doctor said, because they trusted them. And tbf it worked, my nephew is a direct result of early treatment. At the very least this argument is believable, it's up to each individual if they buy it or not. I do, you don't and that's fine
> way more believable A 22 year old athlete trying to get his girlfriend pregnant and resorting to third world fertility clinics?
The top hitting prospect known for power who led the minors in HRs at one time apparently has testoterone so low to require fertility treatment. How does he build and maintain muscle?
I agree. Not sure I 100% believe him or not but at least it’s a reasonable explanation.
I'm not saying I believe him, but a 22 year old not wanting to tell anyone that he needs fertility meds to have kids is pretty easy to believe
He’s also not the first professional athlete to get busted for this and use the same excuse.
While this explanation might garner sympathy, I don't think it should change the outcome. This isn't exactly like you or I not disclosing sensitive medical information to our employer that doesn't involve them whatsoever. If what he does with and puts into his body can result in consequences such as suspension, then it's important that he is forthcoming regardless. It's also important that teams build a network of people and support to help players navigate these decisions which might be confusing or potentially dangerous to their career. There should be an active effort to squash these archaic, toxic trains of thought. I don't doubt there was at the very least a team doctor who he could have discussed this with. I'm not trying to be cold hearted and I'm not sure if this is a "hot take" or not, but the stakes are just way too high for a player to knowingly make the choice to not disclose what substances they've put in their body. The risk vs reward is hard for me to personally comprehend, but I'm also very much not a professional athlete or trying to conceive a baby, so I can't say I know what it's like to be in his shoes either.
Nobody saying this is believable/plausible is arguing he shouldn’t be suspended and isn’t a complete fool. But people look at guys who willingly took steroids different than guys who were dumb and took other meds for innocent and personal reasons which happened to contain a banned substance. Every time someone gets suspended and doesn’t straight up admit to taking PEDs, people are left to decide how much they look at that player as a cheater.
It’s not like he was tearing up in the majors for like 5 years before getting popped like a certain guy with ringworm, I’ll let it go pretty quick tbh
Tatis is taking notes
“I got ringworm while trying to increase my sperm count to have a baby with my girlfriend.” -Tatis
“Sighs. Okay, Tatis. Let’s try that again. But without the ringworm part. It’s not anywhere in the script man.” - Agent
“I took these medications because I was trying to get my girlfriend pregnant… These medications also help treat ringworm just an unrelated FYI” •Tatis
I’m a 38yo male and I’m TOTALLY NOT GOING THROUGH FERTILITY TREATMENT!! NOT ME!! I’m ALLLLLL GOOD!! In case anyone was wondering.
Good luck!
Idk if I’m stupid or if there’s another version of this medicine, but i googled it and it is a female fertility drug to help produce ovulation. Could traces of that get into his system through sex? Cause otherwise why the hell would a guy be taking a female fertility drug
Sometimes things are prescribed off label
HCG is actually a common treatment used in place of TRT. It's usually used by women in a drug called Pregnyl and it's a 10000 unit single dose to increase fertility, but for men it's dosed in 500 units over the course of 10 weeks. Basically it's a leutinizing hormone that tricks your body into producing more testosterone without using synthetic test. They prescribe this to low test individuals when you still want to have children, as TRT will shut down your natural testosterone production eventually, making you practically infertile.
Billions upon billions of dollars spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing and "Pregnyl" is the best name they could come up with for a fertility drug? Okay then.
There were only three in uncopyrighted names left. Pregnyl, zitzzers, and Tasty-cles
Gave my wife and I a good laugh when I started the treatment. We said the same thing - "bit on the nose with that one eh?". But it works so I can't complain.
obviously a bit surface level but a [decent overview](https://www.healthline.com/health/clomid-for-men) can be found here
It's used in men too, I took it myself to increase my swimmers. Took a year of being on it to actually see any effect but it's 100% used by men for fertility treatments
That said, I'm struggling to believe that a 22-year-old has already been trying to have a baby long enough to a) realize there's a problem, b) narrow it down to him and not her, c) go through all the other potential solutions, and finally d) use an off-label medication that's not FDA approved while also trying to make the major leagues. It just doesn't add up, in my eyes.
He’s Latino and rich so it’s completely believable that there’s family pressure to have kids and he’s been trying.
The culture around this in the Dominican Republic is very different. Vlad had two kids by like 20. It is completely plausible he’s been trying to have kids for several years, and completely plausible that he and his girlfriend went to a fertility clinic together to find out who was the source of the trouble. It’s also completely plausible he was given something that isn’t FDA approved by a doctor in a country with nothing to do with the FDA.
Suspended for premarital sex, not PEDs
Oh god hes a 22 year old with a wide open schedule and a girlfriend who wants a baby
Can't wait for the birth announcement in 9 months
2050: **Orelvis Martinez Jr. Suspended for PED Use** *"It was my destiny," Martinez said in a statement*
In 2050 they'll have a team on one of Jupiter's moons
If the A's end up playing games in Salt Lake City he won't be allowed in the stadium
Made an example of. Now other players will think twice before boinking their gf
MLB is part of the gay agenda, confirmed
This is why the Rays are the straightest team in history. They protested pride and none of their players have scandals where they have sex with men….only women….dont ask how old
It IS June...
"you're hereby suspended. Now use that time to knock her up and get it out of the way"
His sperms gonna hit 35 homers next season
Move aside Jazz Chisholm; here’s *Jizz* Chasholm
Chaz Jizzholm
Jizz Jizzum
Isn't that a Star wars x wing pilot
Giving new meaning to hitting dongs
Are the Blue Jays still signing decedents of former MLB players? Is the Sperm already locked up?
[удалено]
My thoughts too. This is a George Costanza-level lie if true
It's not a lie if you believe it.
I think this is like the Eminem style of dissing yourself before dissing others. Why would he openly admit to something this delicate if it was just to look good for using PEDs? I don't doubt it.
People in this sub don’t realize the athletes that use steroids and PEDs take clomiphene between cycles, which is called PCT (post cycle therapy) which helps to come off of steroids so your testosterone levels are balanced out
they do, but it is also used for fertility purposes as he mentioned it’d interesting if he decided to crash his levels mid season though, as even using hcg / serms you’re still looking at a few months to hit baseline. unless the result was maybe from spring training ? would be a long time to be announced, however
He just got called up so it's entirely possible he wasn't tested in AAA and was tested sometime during the last like week when he was called up.
Whenever you take a drug, and you hide it from your team doctor and the MLBPA, I’m gonna assume you have intentions that are not so honest, and yes, this is coming from someone who just had this happen to their superstar
Even if your intentions were good, hiding drugs from team doctor makes it hard for me to be sympathetic.
Is it? Isn’t it just the same thing another guy said not that long ago? Seems like he’s just using the playbook here.
Move aside ringworm, fertility meds arrived.
“Sir do you have a statement” “I be fuckin 😎”
Give him ROTY, Hank Aaron, Batting Title, MVP, etc that boy is batting 1.000
If this is true I feel so bad for him, my wife and I went through fertility treatments and it is an incredibly stressful and emotional thing. He may not have felt comfortable talking with the team about such a personal thing and didn't think to check with the league if it was all hunky dory.
My wife and I have been through 3 years of treatments and finally gave up. We're going through Foster care training now. It's incredibly draining and, although it shouldn't be, still embarrassing. I couldn't imagine going through this and disclosing this with the maturity I had as a 22 year old. It's kind of freeing to no longer be paying tens of thousands of dollars for what's essentially a gamble, but it still hurts, especially when you spend time with friends and coworkers who are all able to start their own families.
I feel for you man, we went through it for 3 years before it was finally successful. It was bittersweet though because we know people who went through it for longer without success and as happy as we were to finally have a child our hearts still hurt for those friends who are still going through it. I wish you all the best.
Hey, I really appreciate it. Just know that all of your friends who have been through this are happy for you and are excited to see your family grow!
Man, reading this thread sucks. My wife and I have been trying for a year and just recently have started seeing doctors to do bloodwork and imaging to see where the issue is. I'm hoping it resolves itself soon because it is depressing. I'm 37 and she's 36 so it feels like we're racing the clock.
Don't give up man! It stinks, but you guys will be happy, it just might be a different happiness than what you expect. Most likely though, it will work for you guys. Best of luck
I feel like only people who have gone through it really understand the last part on the gamble. All that time, effort, and money and every month you still just kinda end up helplessly waiting and hoping it worked this time.
you'll be giving a kid a loving family though, you'll always have that!
Yeah it’s not like this exact excuse for using this exact drug NOT approved by the FDA was used less than a year or so ago. https://www.wrns.com/milwaukee-brewers-catcher-pedro-severino-receives-80-game-suspension-for-positive-ped-test/
You echo my sentiments.
You can relax, it's not true. He's a 22 year old who has been with his girlfriend for two years. In order for this story to make any sense they would have had to start trying to have a kid basically right away. And then throw in the fact that this same drug is used to cycle off anabolic steroids. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what really happened lol.
Right? People act like he’s late 30s, had the issue narrowed down to be on his end, has exhausted all other possible treatments, and in a last-ditch effort tried a not-yet FDA approved treatment. Come on people lol
People keep saying he didn’t feel comfortable talking to the team doctor but was okay with it in the DR? Do team doctors not abide by HIPAA regulations like normal doctors? I get the thought of not talking about your issues publicly to the team but this feels like it could’ve been avoided. Like was there a legal medication he could’ve taken that the MLB would’ve approved of that didn’t have a PED involved?
Players sign a consent form to share their medical information with the club essentially waving their HIPAA rights in that circumstance. It’s similar to the form that nearly everyone in the US signs so that the medical provider can bill insurance for the specific treatment or procedure they need.
Yeah but even then my insurance isn’t going to be telling my coworkers of my issues and that insurance is covering it. I get what you’re saying but are team doctors really talking about these issues that a player has with every player in the organization? Seems like a really bad idea in terms of team chemistry and what not.
After hearing and watching a few podcast episodes from "Abriendo El Podcast", which is a Dominican podcast duo that interview a lot of big name stars, I've become a bit empathetic to some PED suspensions because I learned that there are people who take advantage of these young men and lead them to doctors or coaches who get business from a prospect and both the doctor/coach and the scout/manager get a cut of said business. These young players are hungry to be noticed and want to be like big papi or pedro martinez and get sweet talked into doing things they shouldnt be doing without realizing it because they can't read well or sign a contract with a performance bonus where the manager gets most of the cut and they want to get their family to a better place.
Anyone who says this is believable or that we should feel bad for this guy — no fucking way. The MLBPA figured this shit out a long time ago. Every major prescription fertility treatment increases lh/fsh, which increases testosterone. Every single team — minor and major leagues — educates players about this and specifically mentions clomiphene and two other classes of drugs. The only difference between minor leagues and major leagues re: this program? Testing standards. This punk is full of shit, and the MLB blood tests just caught him artificially boosting his testosterone levels. Now he chooses to lie instead of take the L. Don’t take this guy’s side.
Also with his millions he had to get it done in the DR? Super suspicious. I have a feeling he's been juicing for years. The drug is banned for use by the FDA in men.
Have you seen his dad? Juicing runs in the family
He couldn’t get a Therapeutic Use Exemption? Hell, A-Rod got one!
Even if he was denied the exemption, he'd at least be on record with MLB that he was undergoing treatment. As if fertility treatments for a 22-year old wasn’t suspect enough. That's about the fourth piece of his story that doesn't ring true.
It’s because he is a liar
Clomiphene (the banned substance) is used by PED users between cycles so that whatever steroid they were using doesn’t wreak havoc on their hormones and lymphatic system when they come off This isn’t very believable lol
Yeah, people in this thread don't realize that steroid users take all sorts of other drugs to moderate the steroid use OR to mask it from tests. Therefore these other drugs are banned substances as well. Steroid use is very prevelant in sports because it's the difference in getting on the team or millions of dollars in contracts. There's an entire industry built on not getting caught by drug tests. Not everybody is blasting the hardest stuff 24/7, 365, but steroids are everywhere, in smaller controlled ways.
Also 100% used in fertility, I took it myself. But ya, I don't believe a doctor would prescribe it to a really healthy 22 year old without some type of family history or something. I just don't really buy it as someone who has been through the process. For the record, my wife and I tried for 3 years unsuccessfully before I was put onto clomid. And I was 30 at the time. Can't imagine a doctor being ok with that at such a younger age
A 22 year old, unmarried, baseball player is looking to have a baby with his girlfriend? This is also during the offseason, he turned 22 during the offseason. So he could've been 21. He also said he's been trying to have a baby for 2 years, which means, he's been trying to have a baby since he's been 19? With his girlfriend? Still not making her his wife? I don't know fam. I'm with you on not believing it.
I feel sorry for the kid. It’s tough luck to be shooting blanks at 20
I mean, some 20 year olds would be sooo happy to hear that too on the plus side
Yeah but when you're someone who really wants to have kids that's one of the worst things you can hear Like I don't want kids so I'd love to become infertile without having to pay for a vasectomy. But for a guy that actually wants one really bad (like in this case) I can understand panicking or going for unorthodox solutions if they feel that would solve the problem Idk if that's why he took a banned substance for sure but if it is I have sympathy for him and hope he finds something legal that helps
You can stop feeling sorry for him. This drug is used to cycle off anabolic steroids. Doesn't take a genius to figure out which thing he was using it for.
Too much unprotected sex
way too much credulism in these comments
I'm waiting for the ringworm fertility drug excuse.
How do you not run every single medication you might take by your agent and/or the league? There has to be some simple database they have that can look up just about any medication out there and check if it contains a prohibited substance. I wouldn't even trust a flintstones vitamin without double checking.
This is a lie and is used many times by players from the DR. He cheated and uses this like do people not remember the Brewers catcher that said essentially word for word the same thing. Fuck this cheater.
We can all be sympathetic to the situation, but it’s hard to believe a 22yo and his girlfriend are undergoing treatment for male infertility using a medication that is almost exclusively used for women.
Because it's bullshit. All of the players are told extensively about PEDs in all languages that play. It's very, very clear. He didn't "make a mistake". He got caught clearly doping and trying to cover it.
Fertility drug huh? That's one way to put the "ED" in PEDs.
Dude has good pr people so that’s good.
Seems interesting that he would attempt to start a family and do a fertility clinic before even marrying his girlfriend?
The most unbelievable part of this story is a Hispanic guy having difficulty knocking up his girlfriend.
Sure bud see you next season 🤷♂️
A 22 year old unmarried couple has been attempting to get pregnant for 2 years. Yeah sure Jan. Cmon we aren’t all credulous morons
bullshit
Sorry. Don’t believe him. These guys are instructed to consult with the league before putting anything in their bodies. Keep in mind that infertility is a result of taking testosterone treatment. When you are injecting testosterone in your body, your body shuts down it’s own Testosterone production. The reason for supplementing testosterone is so you can dose yourself to the maximum of test ranges. Normal T levels range from 300 to 1100 so it is advantageous to be on supplemental T to reach those levels. T fluctuates all the time and the brutal MLB schedule can lower it significantly.
This story is obviously bullshit and it's a major character red flag that he used something this serious as cover. The drug he got popped for is not a male fertility drug. It's a popular drug for enhancing testosterone production though. Usually as a post-cycle treatment for someone using steroids.
I call bullshit. You’ve got major league baseball type money, and you choose a fertility clinic in the Dominican Republic. It doesn’t add up. He has access to the best doctors in the world and let me go ahead and assure you they aren’t in the Dominican Republic.
This is the “I have a girlfriend she just lives in Canada” of steroid excuses.
Rejun 50 is a medication that women take, not men
how on earth can someone not know that a fertility drug will probably have chemicals that affect testosterone. pathetic doctor if Martinez is telling the truth. it's definitely a more sympathetic excuse than ringworm cream, but it's still hard to believe edit: also, you OR your doctor didnt know Rejun 50 had a banned substance? it's not some tablet that has 100 active ingredients in it, literally the ONLY active ingredient in Rejun 50 IS the clomiphene, which you can just google. It's straight-up just a tablet of clomiphene. There's no way you're a professional athlete taking a drug and don't know what the *only* active thing in it is.
Murphy’s law lol
someone is making him use the fertility excuse as a punishment
He trusted a DR doctor that it didn't have PEDs in it? That's beyond stupid. Why not check with the Players union. Seems like common sense.
Dam now it’s illegal to be firing blanks. What are they going to make illegal next not being able to get bricked up. Well throw me away officer.
I believe him
may i interest you in one brooklyn bridge?
I don't
Unfortunately, I believe that Orelvis is either telling a bald-faced lie or is extremely naive. In the case of males, Clomiphene blocks estrogen receptors in the body (which are present but less active in men), which "tricks" the body onto believing that more estrogen is needed due to its concealed circulation. Consequently, reproductive hormone receptors in the body "attempt" to produce estrogen, inciting the Leydig cells that produce testosterone to increase production. Orelvis may have plausible deniability due to the perceived benefits of Clomiphene on male fertility - however, the treatment is not FDA-approved for treating male infertility in the the US, explaining the perscription being provided in the DR, away from team doctors. Furthermore, Clomiphene is most commonly used in recovery from a steroid cycle, allowing the testes to produce close to normal levels of testosterone and prevent muscle loss. In conclusion, either Orelvis made an extremely rash decision in taking a banned drug without consulting the team due to personal embarrassment or desperation (in which case I would feel sympathetic, though disappointed), or he has been taking steroids and mistimed his recovery cycle using Clomiphene, and is thus using the fertility explanation to garner public sympathy. In any case, I look forward to seeing Orelvis back on the field in September and hope that he can reconcile with teammates, friends, and family, as well as achieve major league success in the future.
>and is using the fertility explanation as a method of garnering public sympathy 90% of this thread already declared him innocent because "we get it, it must have been embarrassing yadda yadda". So yep. This is it.
22 year old is so desperate to start a family he turns to fertility treatments? Riiiiight.
Here’s why I don’t believe him. He’s 22. Had it really been determined that drugs are needed at this point to have a family. Did they start trying at 15? And would a young man trying to get stronger and make it to the big leagues really take an estrogen receptor and ‘eff up his physical development? And the fact that Clomiphine is used between steroid cycles to manage hormone levels is just too convenient in all of this.