Twins' Schick, two Minor Leaguers suspended

Three Minor Leaguers have found out their personal Opening Days will be delayed in 2019.
Twins right-hander Alex Schick, Reds right-hander Junior Harding and Orioles outfielder Trey Whitley have each been suspended 50 games for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced Friday. Schick (Amphetamine) and Harding (Methylphenidate) were both punished after testing positive for banned stimulants while Whitley received his ban after testing positive for a drug of abuse for the second time. 

Schick was the most advanced of the three players. The 24-year-old right-hander was taken out of Cal in the sixth round of the 2016 Draft and pitched two games for Class A Cedar Rapids in 2017. However, he hasn't been on a Minor League mound since April of that year after experiencing elbow inflammation. A reliever during his college days, Schick was also limited by a knee injury in his junior season before entering the Draft. He has a career 5.40 ERA over 58 1/3 innings between Rookie-level Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids.
Harding also didn't pitch in 2018 and last worked as a reliever for the Reds' Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate in 2017, finishing with a 6.52 ERA, 28 strikeouts and 16 walks over 19 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old hurler was a 17th-round pick out of Chipola Junior College in Florida that year.

Whitley has been suspended less than a year after the Orioles took him out of North Johnston High School in Kenly, North Carolina in the 28th round of the 2018 Draft. The outfielder, who turns 19 on Feb. 3, hit .160/.250/.222 with a triple and three doubles over 31 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
Five Minor Leaguers have been suspended for drug-related violations so far in 2019.