Phillies PED Violations: Bad Luck or Bigger Problem?

Do the Philadelphia Phillies have a PED problem? This central question arises after three players from the clubhouse have tested positive for PEDs within one calendar year.

 

Johan Rojas is the most recent Phillies player implicated in violating the MLB Joint Drug Prevention Treatment Program, with the news of his positive test breaking just before he was set to join the Dominican Republic team for the World Baseball Classic. Now disqualified from the tournament and facing an 80-game MLB suspension, Rojas is appealing the decision. The exact drug he tested positive for has yet to be disclosed.

 

 

Just two short months ago, it was announced that outfielder Max Kepler had tested positive for Epitrenbolone, a potent anabolic-androgenic steroid used in veterinary medicine to boost livestock muscle mass, and prohibited for use in humans due to its severe side effects. The former Phillie did not appeal the suspension.

 

And of course, in August of 2025, the Phillies were dealt a tremendous blow when reliever Jose Alvarado tested positive for exogenous Testosterone, which he claims was accidental—the result of taking weight loss medication—though the consensus around baseball is that there should never be “accidental” positive tests when it’s easy to run supplements and drugs by their team physicians before use. Whether accidental or not, a positive test for a banned substance resulted in an 80-game suspension and a 2025 postseason ban. Alvarado’s actions felt like a betrayal to fans coming in the midst of a season in which the Phillies were in contention for a World Series title and needed all hands on deck.

 

After posting a dominant stat line in 2023, including a 1.74 ERA, Alvarado had an inconsistent 2024, posting a 4.09 ERA and a noticeable reduction in velocity, which had sunk from a 98.6 mph average in 2023 to an average of 96.8 mph in 2024. Entering spring training in 2025, Jose was in noticeably better shape, and his average velocity had ticked up to 99.6 mph—a pretty significant improvement over both previous seasons, and possibly a red flag ignored amid the excitement of having the flame-throwing reliever back in the fold and looking better than ever.

 

As the regular season began, it appeared his hard work in the offseason would see him return to his dominant ways, posting a 2.70 ERA in 20 appearances. Then news of his PED violation broke, leading instantly to speculation that it was not hard work that led to his new physique and success after all, but instead chemical enhancement.

Jose Alvarado was not the only Phillies player under pressure to perform after a difficult season. Max Kepler struggled offensively for most of 2025 and publicly expressed his frustration at not being an everyday player, instead stuck in an outfield platoon. Coming on the heels of an injury-plagued 2024, where he endured patellar tendinitis and had to go under the knife for bilateral core surgery, it had been a tough road for Kepler of late.

 

And Phillies fans are no strangers to the struggles of Johan Rojas, a once highly heralded prospect whose inability to put the offensive pieces together consistently in the long term has been fodder for fans and media for years. Coming into this spring training, his best hope rested on a final bench spot. With long-awaited top prospect Justin Crawford essentially a lock for the everyday center fielder position, and the rest of the outfield set with Adolis Garcia in right and a combination of Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp in left, Rojas’ best-case scenario would be as a depth piece and defensive replacement option late in games. Was the pressure of knowing he was running out of chances simply too much?

 

With only a handful of PED suspensions in all of MLB over the last few years, having three cases on one team raises a critical question about the Phillies: are these isolated incidents, or is there a systemic issue within the organization?

The last time this many players from the same organization were implicated together, it was at the heart of a massive doping conspiracy that sent shock waves throughout MLB and led to the suspension of 13 players, including superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez, two Yankees minor leaguers, several MLB All-Stars, and a handful of other players. In 2013, it was discovered that professional athletes were obtaining PEDs from the Biogenesis of America rejuvenation clinic in Coral Gables, Florida. The clinic and its owner, Dr. Anthony Bosch, were exposed by a disgruntled former employee who leaked documents to the Miami New Times, including a client list containing high-profile names.

 

 

Alex Rodriguez, who would go on to name names and give evidence in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution, admitted that he himself spent $12,000 per month for a doping protocol that included difficult to detect testosterone creams, testosterone gummies, and human growth hormone from 2010-2012, further admitting that he was also receiving PEDs from his cousin, Yuri Sucart, Sr. for at least a decade.

 

The Biogenesis of America scandal came only ten short years after the league began testing for steroids in 2003 as a result of the BALCO investigation. During that investigation, federal agents uncovered widespread steroid use in MLB linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), leading to 104 positive tests, including several MLB superstars, including Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and another familiar name—Alex Rodriguez. MLB could no longer look the other way, and finally took steps to end the “Steroid Era” of the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

In 2003, Victor Conte’s Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative — BALCO — was raided by federal agents, and within months, he was part of the biggest doping scandal in U.S. history.

20 years later, it’s the subject of Netflix’s latest ‘Untold’ ⤵️

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 16, 2023

 

 

Now in 2026, after another relatively quiet period on the PED suspension front, cracks may be forming in the prevention program once again. No one should be naive enough to think doping ever really stopped. The pressure to perform, the improvements in technology to mask PEDs in testing, and the life-changing money to be made both by pushers and athletes certainly never stopped. Even from 2015-2022, there were a fairly significant number of PED suspensions handed out, only very recently dropping fairly sharply from 2023 to the present. It certainly makes you wonder if the league has finally gotten a handle on things and compliance has truly improved, or if we’re in an era where the technology for beating the tests is winning. It brings to mind the movie line from The Usual Suspects, “the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

 

After all, the Biogenesis of America clinic was not uncovered as the result of MLB testing, but simply because an employee, upset over money owed to him, decided he wanted revenge. And BALCO’s undoing also came at the hands of a solitary whistle-blower who anonymously sent a syringe containing an undetectable steroid to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

In the case of Johan Rojas, Max Kepler, and Jose Alvarado, there does not appear to be a common thread connecting them other than the uniform. No special friendship between all three or even a pair of the players. No connection to their offseason training location, training staff or coaches. No shared agent or agency. No convenient trail of bread crumbs leading to a grand conspiracy or bad actor pushing PEDs to Philadelphia Phillies players.

 

On the surface it appears to be nothing more than a case of three teammates independently dealing with career struggles the wrong way. Of course, one only has to think back to BALCO or Biogenesis of America to find your thoughts drifting to a less trusting place. With the first two incidents ten years apart, and 2026 a mere 13 years removed from Biogenesis of America, is MLB stuck in an ebb and flow steroid scandal cycle just waiting for the next informant to come forward?

 

While the Phillies have confirmed they fully support the league’s Joint Prevention Treatment Program, they have yet to comment on how three PED violations in one year reflect on the organization. Isolated incidents are unfortunate, but not necessarily a cause for concern. However, three positive tests in such a short time is a pattern that cannot be ignored. Is there something in the culture of that clubhouse that contributed to three teammates heading down a bad path and how can it be avoided in the future? Will there be more scrutiny on the team by the league in the form of additional testing over the course of the new season, or will the news of Atlanta Braves star Jurickson Profar’s second PED suspension in as many years be enough to shift the focus of the league and media away from the Phillies? A look at the headlines to date certainly argues that this may be the case.

 

Even if the Phillies are able to avoid the media hot seat thanks to Profar’s epic blunder, the way they handle this issue matters. The Phillies will once again be in contention for the World Series in 2026, with the window closing more after every season for this aging core. The last thing the organization, players, and fans need is to finally bring the parade back to Broad Street under a dark cloud. No asterisks for Philadelphia, please.