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Chris Davis receives Adderall exemption following suspension
After receiving a 25-game suspension on Sept. 12 for unauthorized use of the drug Adderall,
Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has requested and been granted a theraputic use exemption from the league in order to continue using it in 2015.
This according to Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who made the revelation during a team-related event on Tuesday.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday that he was told by Davis that the first baseman has received a therapeutic use exemption for Adderall next season.
“It's a good thing,” Showalter said during the 36th annual OriolesREACH Holiday Party for Kids at Dave & Buster’s in Arundel Mills. “Yeah, he told me he was approved for it.”
Despite a disappointing season that saw his average drop to .196 and his home run total drop from 53 to 26, the loss of Davis was obviously a big blow to Baltimore's offense at the worst possible time. The suspension ended up costing Davis the final 17 games of the regular season and all seven of the Orioles' postseason games (they were swept by Kansas City in the ALCS), meaning he'll also be forced to miss opening day in 2015.
The timing was awful, and the circumstances surrounding his suspension were puzzling to say the least. Prior to the 2013 season, Davis was said to have a therapeutic use exemption for Adderall to treat his diagnosed ADHD. He stopped applying or was denied in 2013 but obviously kept taking Adderall, which led to two failed tests in two years. The first got him a warning. The second a suspension.
The league reportedly issued 113 therapeutic use exemptions for the 2014 season, including 112 for attention deficit disorder or ADHD. The option was there for him then, just as it was before and just as it is now. But for whatever reason Davis wasn't among those with an exemption. Davis has not spoken publicly about the circumstances surrounding his suspension. Per the rules of the joint drug prevention and treatment program, MLB isn't allowed to comment either. So it's possible we'll never know the whole story.
Of course, what matters now for Davis and the Orioles is that it appears he'll be covered in 2015, allowing him to use Adderall without the threat of a larger suspension. But it would have been interesting to see how Baltimore would have fared against the Kansas City Royals with Davis in the lineup.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
