Brewers prospect Bickford suspended 50 games

Milwaukee Brewers minor-league pitcher Phil Bickford has been suspended for 50 games following a second positive test for a drug of abuse, Major League Baseball announced Friday.

Bickford, 21, was acquired in an Aug. 1 trade that sent reliever Will Smith to the San Francisco Giants. The right-hander is considered one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, just behind Josh Hader and Luis Ortiz.

“We are very disappointed to learn of Phil’s suspension, but we fully support the Minor League Baseball Drug Prevention and Testing Program and its enforcement by the Commissioner’s Office,” Brewers general manager David Stearns said in a statement released by the team. “Phil understands he made a mistake, and we fully anticipate that he will learn from this experience.”

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Bickford went 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA in six games (five starts) and 30 strikeouts (27 innings) at advanced Class A Brevard County after being traded to the Brewers. Overall with three teams at two levels in 2016, Bickford went 7-7 with a 2.92 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 120 innings.

Selected 18th overall by the Giants in 2015, Bickford was expected to open the season with the Brewers' new advanced Class A affiliate, Carolina. His suspension is expected to keep him sidelined likely until early June.

A third positive test would subject Bickford to a season-long ban.

Broxton pleads: In another matter involving Brewers personnel, centerfielder Keon Broxton pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor trespassing charge, for which he was arrested in Tampa, Fla., in the early morning hours of Nov. 4. In the pre-trial plea deal, adjudication was withheld, which usually results in probation and community service or just court costs.