Chris Colabello of the Toronto Blue Jays has been suspended for 80 games as a result of a positive test for PEDs.

The positive test actually took place more than a month ago. For his part, Colabello denies knowingly taking PEDs and evidently appealed his suspension to no avail.

Up until now. Colabello has been something of a baseball feel good story. Colabello, a native of Massachusetts who spent much of his childhood in Italy, played for seven seasons with the Worcester Tornadoes in the independent Can-Am League before the Minnesota Twins signed him in 2012. He would make his big league debut with the Twins in 2013 at the age of 29. In 2015, Colabello joined the Jays and had a career year with a .321 batting average, 15 HR & 54 RBI in 101 games with the AL East champions.

However, Colabello had struggled at the plate thus far in 2016. In 10 games, Colabello went 2 for 29 for a  batting average of .069. In light of the fact that Colabello was aware of the pending suspension, it goes a long way in explaining his struggles at the plate. Colabello also missed a game after being plunked in the batting helmet by Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright.

It’s possible that Colabello is telling the truth. But since Ryan Braun successfully appealed his suspension only to turn out he was guilty as all hell, no player can expect to be cut slack. But if Colabello isn’t telling the truth then it puts a damper on a story of determination, persistence and resolve.