Former Top Phils’ Prospect Suspended for Marijuana

Jonathan Singleton, 21, was suspended today for 50-games for violating minor league baseball’s banned substance policy after testing positive for marijuana. Singleton will miss the first 50-games of what likely would have been with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Singleton was sent to Houston in July 2011’s trade for Hunter Pence and was ranked the 34th best prospect in the game by Baseball America entering the 2012 season. He was ranked second in the Astros organization behind shortstop Carlos Correa in Baseball America’s Astros’ Top 10 after hitting .284/.396/.497 with 21 HR and 7 SB for Double-A Corpus Christi in 2012.

Singleton issued a statement through his agency:

I was informed today that I have tested positive for marijuana. As a result, I am being suspended for the first 50 games of the 2013 season. I accept the penalty and take full responsibility for my actions. I apologize to my parents, the Houston Astros and (general manager) Jeff Luhnow.

The Astros have been nothing but supportive of me and good to me in my short time with the organization. My hope is to use this as a learning experience and spend the rest of my career proving to myself and the baseball community that this was a lapse in judgment, and is not in any way indicative of my character or my dedication to baseball or to my team.’