Fernando Tatis Jr. made his first public appearance Tuesday since the Major League Baseball suspended him for 80 games for testing positive for a banned substance. He apologized to fans and the Padres organization for letting them down.
"I've seen how my dreams have turned into my worst nightmares," Tatis said. "I'm going to make sure that I'm never back in this position again."
While the news added to the Padre's list of woes for the season, the scandal is also highlighting the connection between steroid use and players — like Tatis — from the Dominican Republic who have accounted for 80% of suspensions involving performance enhancing drug use since 2017.
San Diego sports writer Mark Ziegler wrote about the reasons behind the steroid use by Dominican players in a recent column for The San Diego Union-Tribune. He joined Midday Edition Tuesday to talk about his reporting.
