Brewers Looking For Help Behind The Plate After Pedro Severino Receives 80-Game Suspension

The Milwaukee Brewers will be without Pedro Severino for the first half of the season after the backup catcher received an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement.

In a statement released through the Major League Baseball Player’s Association, Severino accepted the suspension and explained the failed drug test that led to it stemmed from medication he was prescribed to treat infertility as he and his wife tried to start a family in the Dominican Republic.

“Unfortunately, I now know that the medication contained Clomiphene,” Severino said in his statement. “I accept responsibility for this mistake and have decided not to challenge my suspension.

“I have been a professional baseball player since I was 16 years old and I have been also been in the big leagues for parts of seven seasons. I have been tested more than 100 times in my career and I never had an issue.

“In my attempt to start a family, I made a mistake.”

In their own statement, the Brewers said they support MLB’s efforts “to erase performance-enhancing drugs from out game” but also offered their support to Severino and “will welcome him back upon the conclusion of his discipline.”

Milwaukee signed Severino, 28, to a one-year contract worth $1.9 million last November after longtime catcher Manny Pina took a three-year deal with the Atlanta Braves.

He’d performed well in Cactus League action, slashing .435/.480/.826 with two home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.306 OPS in 23 at-bats over eight games while also earning rave reviews from the team’s pitchers for his work behind the plate.

“Pedro worked extremely hard for the last four weeks,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. I think he had a great camp in just how hard he worked and how hard he tried to get up to speed. There was still going to be a process but he covered a lot of ground, probably more than we expected.”

The suspension leaves the Brewers without an experienced option behind starter Omar Narvaez. Mario Feliciano and Brett Sullivan are also on the 40-man roster but between them, have just one MLB appearance.

Speaking to reporters at the team’s spring training complex in Phoenix, Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said he has been talking to other teams about potential deals since learning of the suspension Monday but acknowledged that the timing and dearth of catching options overall could make swinigng a deal in time for Opening Day a challenge.

“Catching is in short supply in general within baseball,” Stearns said. “It’s one of the reasons we’re relatively aggressive early in the offseason to bring in Pedro.

“There’s not a huge pool of experienced catching to go and get so we’re going to have to talk to other teams, we’re going to have to continue to develop and evaluate our internal options. This is probably a conversation that’s going to be ongoing for the next few months.”

Should the Brewers stick with their internal options, Counsell was confident in their ability to step in and contribute, despite the lack of experience.

“Young catchers always have challenges and it will be no different for them,” Counsell said. “It’s going to be a fast learning process for them and that’s alright; they’re not the first guys that had a fast learning process.”

Both Feliciano and Sullivan are in Nashville where the Brewers’ Triple-A team is scheduled to open its season Tuesday night.

Severino is eligible to return to the Brewers on Sunday, July 3 when they wrap up a weekend series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.