Mets react to HGH testing procedure
Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey throws a bullpen session during spring training. (Feb. 25, 2012) Credit: Alejandra Villa
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- When Mike Pelfrey heard there would be another round of drug tests Wednesday morning, the Mets pitcher wasn't prepared for what was coming. Unlike the regular urine tests that everyone in baseball has become accustomed to, this one was different.
This time it was roll up your sleeve, get stuck with a needle and submit two vials of blood to be tested for human growth hormone (HGH), the next phase in Major League Baseball's efforts to wipe out performance-enhancing drugs from the sport.
"As long as they're not doing it on a game day, it doesn't bother me," Pelfrey said. "It actually went really smooth in there. It was in-and-out, just like that. You sit down, they wrap your arm, stick you and it's over."
MLB is the first major professional sports league in North America to test for HGH. The program was added in November to the new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association. But unlike the testing guidelines for other drugs, the one for HGH will not be administered during the regular season or playoffs, unless there is "reasonable cause," such as the suspicion of attempting to obtain the drug. It is illegal to acquire HGH without a prescription.
"The players felt it was important to begin blood testing for HGH," said Michael Weiner, executive director of the Players Association. "The spring-training collections are the first opportunity that the membership has to directly experience how these collections will work. After we have a chance to take all of that into consideration, we will assess the process and determine if any changes need to be made."
MLB did not return calls for comment regarding the testing.
The Mets are not the first team to be tested. USA Today reported last week that other teams had already been tested.
As for the HGH test itself, players were notified in a letter from the union in December after the CBA was approved and ratified. But some Mets had forgotten about that heads-up and were only reminded when it came time to walk into the conference room for testing. Some were surprised to hear they would not be tested for HGH during the regular season.
In accordance with the new HGH policy, every member of the Mets' 40-man roster was tested Wednesday.
The penalty for HGH is the same as other banned PEDs: A first-time offender will receive a 50-game suspension.
Just the simple act of drawing blood has some players concerned, such as the Mets' top outfield prospect, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who was anxious. For the regular spring-training physicals, players usually submit four vials of blood. This was only two, but that didn't make it any easier for Nieuwenhuis.
"The less for me, the better," he said. "The more they take, the more uncomfortable it is. But I got a good nurse this time . . . They did a good job."
He said his arm remained sore as he worked out, a symptom that he attributed to the tests. "For the first hour afterward I was having trouble trying to swing, so I think that affected it," he said. "I think that would definitely be a concern if they start trying to do the tests right before a game. After the game would be much better."
The original PED test, which includes steroids, has been administered randomly before games during the regular season and playoffs since 2001. That's far less invasive because it relies on a urine sample.
Players also may be more skeptical of drug tests in general after Ryan Braun won his appeal of a positive test for synthetic testosterone just last week. The crux of that appeal relied on a urine sample remaining in a collector's refrigerator for two days rather than being shipped to a lab immediately. How that verdict will affect MLB's drug policy going forward is uncertain.
"I guess if they're doing it, you have to trust it," Pelfrey said. "For me, I don't even take vitamins, so it doesn't bother me at all. You'd like it to be an even playing field, so whatever they need to do is fine. As long as it's accurate and safe -- and they throw the needle away."
