Red Sox top prospect Michael Chavis suspended for positive PED test result

Michael Chavis, who enjoyed a breakout season in 2017 and was tied for the most home runs among Red Sox minor leaguers last year, was suspended 80 games Friday after testing positive for Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a performance-enhancing drug.

The first-round pick of the Red Sox in 2014, Chavis struggled in his first few seasons in the Boston system. In 2014, his first pro season, he had a .269/.347/.425 slash line for Fort Myers in the Gulf Coast League. The following year at Greenville, he showed some power with 16 homers, but still compiled a line of .223/.277/.405 for an OPS of .682. In 2016, splitting time between Low-A Greenville and High-A Salem, he managed just eight homers and a .237/.313/.372 line.

But last year, playing first at Salem and then at Double-A Portland, Chavis broke through with the kind of offensive season the Red Sox had expected when they drafted him out of high school in Georgia, with a .282/.347/.563 line to go with 31 homers and 94 RBI. He was named the Red Sox' Minor League Offensive Player of the Year. Baseball America ranked him as the top position player prospect in the Red Sox system this winter and No. 85th overall.

"It was an incredible year for Michael,'' said Red Sox director of player development Ben Crockett at the organization's rookie development program in January. "He really took some big steps forward. His offensive approach really matured. There weren't major mechanical changes that were made. It was really him understanding who he is as a hitter and understanding what makes him successful.''

Chavis, who earned an invitation to major league spring training, suffered what the Red Sox said was a strained oblique just as games were getting underway and missed the entire Grapefruit League schedule. He was placed on the Portland roster earlier this week, but began the season in the DL.

In a statement, Chavis revealed that the failed test took place in the off-season.

"Over the past several months, I have been searching for an answer as to how a prohibited substance I have never heard of, DHMCT, was detected in my urine during the off-season,'' Chavis wrote. "It is a question that unfortunately has not been answered and I have run out of time for now to find an answer. As hopeless as this is for me, I am faced with the reality that maybe I never will. The only think I do know is that I would never, and have never, purposely taken any prohibitive substance in my entire life.''

In the statement, Chavis apologized for the "negative attention brought to myself, my family, the Red Sox and our fans,'' and vows to "win back any respect you might have lost in me because of this situation.''

The Red Sox released statement in which they "fully support Major League Baseball and the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. While we are disappointed by the news of this situation, we will look to provide the appropriate support to Michael. Going forward, the club will not comment further on this matter.''

Chavis, drafted as a shortstop, was later moved to third base by the Red Sox. Last fall, they had him play some first base in the Arizona Fall League as a means of increasing his versatility, given the presence of 21-year-old Rafael Devers at third and 24-year-old Xander Bogaerts at short.

It had been projected that, with continued production, Chavis might have been promoted to Boston at some point during the 2018 season. Given this setback and the fact that he will miss critical development time in the minors for the next three months, such an accelerated path to the big leagues seems far more of a longshot at this point.