PITTSBURGH -- Giants pitching prospect Joan Gregorio was suspended for the rest of the season Saturday after testing positive for stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance. The Commissioner's Office made the announcement.
Gregorio was ranked San Francisco's No. 8 prospect by MLBPipeline.com. The 25-year-old right-hander, who recently went on the seven-day disabled list with a back injury, had a 4-4 record with a 3.04 ERA for Triple-A Sacramento. As a member of the Giants's 40-man roster, Gregorio was a leading candidate to be recalled to San Francisco later in the season.
The 6-foot-7, 180-pound Gregorio represented the Giants at MLB's Rookie Career Development Program in January.
Giants general manager Bobby Evans said in a text message that he felt "obviously disappointed" to receive the news about Gregorio. "I hope he learns a valuable lesson and doesn't put himself in this position again. We support the testing and education policies and it's critical that players abide by them."
• Center fielder Denard Span became the first Giant to amass 40 hits during June since Moises Alou in 2005. Span's hit total was the highest for a Giant in any calendar month since Marco Scutaro had 42 hits in May 2013. Span compiled a .374/.427/.542 slash line for June with six doubles, three triples, two home runs and 21 runs scored.
• Exchanging right-handers, the Giants recalled Chris Stratton from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned Dan Slania to the Minors. Giants manager Bruce Bochy explained that Stratton would have been summoned instead of Slania last Wednesday when Mark Melancon went on the disabled list. But Stratton had just pitched 4 1/3 innings Tuesday and was temporarily unavailable.
Slania made one appearance for the Giants, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in his first Major League game to conclude Friday night's 13-5 victory over Pittsburgh.
"You hate to be Debbie Downer after [Slania] made his debut," Bochy said. "But this could do his confidence a lot of good and get him back on track."
Slania was 1-9 with a 6.44 ERA in 15 games at Double-A and Triple-A before joining the Giants.