If ever there were a guy that Dodger fans were pulling for it was 28-year-old West Hills, California native Josh Ravin. Here’s a guy who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth round of the 2006 MLB First Year Player Draft, spent seven seasons in the Reds minor league system, was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013 but never played for them and was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers on December 13, 2013.

After splitting time between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Albuquerque in 2014, Ravin began the 2015 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City before being called up to the Dodgers on June 2, 2015 when he finally made his major league debut.

Ravin appeared in nine games for the Dodgers over three call-ups in 2015 – all in relief – posting a 2-1 record and 6.75 ERA; not overwhelming but solid – certainly solid enough to remain on the Dodgers 40-man roster and given a ticket to spring training 2016. But before Ravin appeared in even one game at Camelback Ranch, he was involved in a traffic accident in which he broke the radius bone in his left forearm requiring emergency surgery. As such, he officially began the 2016 season on the Dodgers 60-day disabled list.

After spending 10 years in the minors, Ravin finally made it to the big leagues for nine games in 2015. It’s now quite possible that he will never return to a major league mound.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Throughout the course of spring training and through the first month of the 2016 regular season, Ravin became a very popular figure on Twitter, posting daily inspirational words of encouragement. So popular were his extremely positive tweets and his frequent interaction with Dodger fans, he quickly became a huge fan-favorite in spite of the fact that he was still in Arizona recovering from his injury.

But then something happened last week, something that was so out of character for the popular Chatsworth High School grad. He got into a spat with Dodgers super-sub Kiké Hernandez on Twitter which, of course, was seen by the many followers of both of these guys. It escalated quickly (and uncomfortably) and eventually Ravin deleted all of his tweets in the thread before going silent. So silent, in fact, that his final tweet before locking his account said this:

What was so very unusual about the Ravin-Hernandez Twitter exchange is that it clearly started out in jest but quickly turned ugly, especially on Kiké’s part – also way out of character for the extremely popular and always jovial tweeting Dodger. It just didn’t make any sense why Hernandez would go down this path.

Lo and behold, on Monday afternoon the Twitter sparring between Ravin and Hernandez became clear – crystal clear – when it was announced by the Dodgers that Ravin had tested positive for Peptide 2, a growth hormone that is on Major League Baseball’s banned substance list for which Ravin has been suspended for 80 games effective immediately. Here is the official statement from the Dodgers regarding Ravin:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today issued the following statement regarding the suspension of right-handed pitcher Josh Ravin:

“We are disappointed to hear that Josh has violated Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The Dodgers fully support MLB’s policy toward eliminating performance enhancing substances from the sport and, as per the Joint Drug Program, we will have no further comment on this suspension.”

Ravin had been on the Dodgers’ 60-day disabled list with a broken left forearm.

Within an hour of the Dodgers statement, Ravin issued his own statement:

“During 2016 spring training, I came down with a severe case of intestinal flu and strep throat. I was put on antibiotics and lost a total of 20 pounds in less than seven days. To try and speed up my recovery, I took some supplements that I thought would help. Unfortunately, I was not as careful as I should have been and one of the supplements contained a banned substance.

“I later learned that the substance showed up in a regular drug test done of me during 2016 spring training. This has been a very painful lesson for me. I have always tried to avoid doing anything in violation of the system and I take full responsibility for the consequences of my actions and my bad judgment. So, I have decided to accept the suspension and continue my ultimate goal to be able to pitch again in the major leagues.”

As far as Ravin’s unpaid suspension beginning immediately even though he is on the disabled list, this is somewhat of a loophole in the MLB-MLBPA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. This from our friend and colleague Eric Stephen over at True Blue LA:

Ravin could have easily been optioned to the minors at the end of spring training, but that he is on the 60-day disabled list was more a procedural move that allowed the Dodgers an extra spot on the 40-man roster. The benefit to Ravin during that period was collecting a major league salary, a pro-rated share of $515,000, rather than a minor league salary, as well as collecting major league service time.

During the suspension Ravin will continue to earn service time, because the MLBPA is powerful, but he will not be paid, potentially losing approximately $225,137.

No matter how inspirational or positive Josh Ravin came across to his now rapidly diminishing Twitter followers, he won’t be able to sweet talk or schmooze his way out of this one. He has now also put his possible return to the major leagues in very serious jeopardy.