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Andre Rienzo Suspension: White Sox Pitcher Suspended 50 Games

The commissioner's office announced on Thursday that 24-year-old pitcher Andre Rienzo has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for PED's.

By Satchel Price
April 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of O.co Coliseum during the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
April 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of O.co Coliseum during the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Chicago White Sox minor league pitcher Andre Rienzo has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for metabolites Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug that's banned under the current CBA, as MLB announced on Thursday. Rienzo had been pitching for High Single-A Winston-Salem this season.

White Sox vice president of player development and special assignment Buddy Bell spoke with reporters, including Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago, about the situation:

We found out a couple of weeks ago. We talked to Andre about it right away. He was devastated at the positive. He denies any wrongdoing or anything like that. We went through the proper channels and Andre wanted to appeal. After about 10 days or so, they decided to get this thing behind him.

Rienzo, 24, is a hard-throwing pitcher that the White Sox originally signed out of Brazil in 2006. In a statement he made regarding his suspension, Rienzo blamed the positive test on a tainted supplement that he purchased during the offseason from a health food store in his native Brazil.

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