NEW YORK -- Free agent pitcher Troy Patton has been suspended for 80 games following a positive test for an amphetamine under Major League Baseball's drug program.
The positive test was the 29-year-old left-hander's third for an amphetamine. While with Baltimore, he was suspended for the first 25 games of the 2014 season following a second positive test. Initial positive tests are not announced and result in follow-up testing.
At the time Patton's 25-game suspension was announced last December, he told The Sun in Baltimore that he took an Adderall pill four days before the 2013 season finished, trying to improve his short-term focus.
Patton made his first big league appearance of this year on May 1 and was traded to San Diego on May 24 for catcher Nick Hundley. Patton went a combined 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in 17 big league appearances.
He became a free agent on Oct. 1 when he refused an outright assignment to the minor leagues. His suspension will start with the first game he otherwise would be eligible to play after signing a major or minor league contract.
His penalty was the sixth this year under the big league drug program following a yearlong ban for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez; 50-game penalties for Tampa Bay pitcher Alex Colome and Seattle first baseman Ji-Man Choi; and 25-game bans for San Diego outfielder Cameron Maybin and Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis.