Singleton shares all about his addiction

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Jon Singleton is considered the top first base prospect in baseball – a big, dynamic left-handed hitter with power and composure who can use the entire field.

He’s one of the players expected to help the Houston Astros back to respectability after three straight 100-loss seasons.

All that despite a couple of significant set backs. And for the first time publicly, he’s opening up about his battle with an addiction to marijuana and monthlong stay at a rehabilitation center.

“At this point it’s pretty evident to me that I’m a drug addict,” he said over breakfast near the Astros’ camp. “I don’t openly tell everyone that, but it’s pretty apparent to myself.”

Vividly so.

“I know that I enjoy smoking weed, I enjoy being high and I can’t block that out of my mind that I enjoy that,” he said. “So I have to work against that.”

“We applaud Jon for the courage he has shown in tackling this issue head on. He has displayed a great deal of maturity and commitment over the past year and has the full support of the Astros organization,” the team said in a statement. “He is on the right track for his baseball career, and, more importantly, for his life. We are very proud of Jon.”

Singleton had steadfastly avoided discussing the subject for more than a year. But on this morning, he shared his story with disarming candor and ease, never once bristling at the increasingly prying questions.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Singleton sits up straight in a small booth, adjusts the ball cap he wears backward and fills in the details of his private struggle.

The 22-year-old said he has stopped using marijuana and is better now. He’s determined to rebound from a season that was all but lost because of his addiction and make his MLB debut.

General manager Jeff Luhnow said Singleton could start the season with the Astros, but it’s too early to know for sure. Singleton has been playing in the big league spring training games.

“He’s still young and still learning both about baseball and about life,” Luhnow said.

It’s no secret that Singleton, acquired by Houston from the Phillies in the 2011 trade for Hunter Pence, has had issues with marijuana. He was suspended for the first 50 games last season for a second failed drug test. Then, it was simply characterized as a mistake, or “a lapse in judgment” as his statement said.

That certainly wasn’t the real story.

His first positive test came in June 2012 and he said he quit using marijuana for the rest of the season. He went on to hit .284 with 21 homers and 79 RBIs in his first season in Double-A.

At season’s end, he went to the Arizona Fall League and quickly fell back into old habits.

He knew his situation was dire when he failed a second test in December 2012, but he continued to get high every single day.

Singleton was immediately admitted for a monthlong stay at an inpatient rehabilitation center.

“I knew I had a problem,” he said. “Even after I failed the second drug test I couldn’t stop smoking weed. It was really bad. Me going there was definitely the best move.”