We may have missed this over the winter when it was first reported, but a PBT post today highlighting Bob Brookover's Inquirer column this morning informed us that Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz received an exemption from MLB that will allow him to take Adderall in 2014. This is notable, of course, because Ruiz received a 25-game suspension to begin last season for using a banned substance believed to be Adderall.
It makes you wonder why Chooch wouldn't have gotten the exemption sooner. Brookover writes about the particularly high number of MLB players with exceptions:
In fact, he is among a growing number of major-league players with an exemption. According to a joint release by MLB and the Players Association in November, a record total of 122 therapeutic exemptions were granted last season, including 119 for ADHD. That number is a controversial one because it means that roughly 10 percent of major-league players have a diagnosis of ADHD, much higher than the 4.4 percent reported among the United States' general population.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Ruiz is understandably rather quiet on the matter, preferring to not get into detail about his medication choices.
Chooch never returned to his All-Star form in 2013 after sitting the first part of the season out. The Phillies clearly struggled out of the gate without their No. 1 man behind the plate. Brookover writes that Ruiz is "in a lot better state of mind than he was a year ago at this time, and that's great news for the Phillies."
For Phillies fans too.