Cubs' Oscar De La Cruz: Handed 80-game suspension

De La Cruz has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a PED masking agent, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

One of the top prospects in a very weak farm system, De La Cruz tested positive for furosemide, and will miss the rest of 2018 (the Tennessee Smokies have 56 games left on their schedule) and roughly the first month of 2019. The 23-year-old righty is already on the 40-man roster, which may have led the Cubs to assigning him to Double-A a little before he was ready for the level. He has a 5.24 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 77.1 innings this season. It would not be surprising to see him converted to a relief role at some point next season.