Former Orioles outfielder L.J. Hoes received a 50-game suspension on Wednesday for violating minor league baseball’s drug program after testing positive for a drug of abuse for the second time in his career.
Hoes – a Prince George’s County native who was the Orioles’ minor league player of the year in 2012 – is currently a free agent, so he will begin serving his suspension once he signs with a new organization.
Last year, Hoes returned to the Orioles organization and hit .242/.318/.331 with six homers and 33 RBIs in 102 games with Triple-A Norfolk. He became a minor league free agent after the season and went unsigned.
Hoes, 27, was one of the Orioles’ top prospects, hitting .287/.372/.388 with 20 stolen bases at Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk in 2012, earning a late-season major league callup.
The following year, he was traded to Houston as part of the deadline deal that netted right-hander Bud Norris. He posted .240/.292/.332 line in 109 games with the Astros from 2013 to 2015.
Hoes, who grew up in Mitchellville, was a third-round pick of the Orioles in 2008 out of St. John’s High School in Washington, D.C.
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