Tough lesson learned

The Spokane Indians’ Lizahio Baez is a strong man, but he is quiet. He doesn’t say much, preferring to let his bat do most of the talking.

When it came down to turning down steroids, however, his bat just wasn’t strong enough. Baez didn’t say no, and on April 5, along with 38 other minor leaguers in the Arizona minor league camps, he tested positive for steroids.

“I knew what the rules were, but I didn’t think I would test positive,” said Baez, in Spanish, prior to Sunday’s game at Tri-City. “I didn’t use a lot of that stuff, I only did it once.”

Baez, who was assigned to the Indians last week, after playing in Spokane last year, said the reason he did it was so that he didn’t lose strength after dropping 20 pounds.

“Last year I weighed 230 pounds and I had to lose 20 pounds,” at the request of the Texas Rangers, he said. “And I lost them. I’ve always been a little chubby. I had never done proteins or anything.”

Baez, who currently weighs 208 pounds, was suspended for 15 games.

“It was hard, but not for me – for my family,” he said.

For Baez, 22, the hardest part of the ordeal was wondering what his family in the Dominican was thinking.

“I was living it, so I wasn’t too worried,” he said. “But my family worried more and that was my worry.”

Baez returned from his suspension on April 24, with the Rangers’ long-season Class A affiliate in Iowa, the Clinton LumberKings, and hit a home run, a double and drove in three runs, while going 2 for 4.

“I never allowed myself to get down because of it, and I thank God for that,” he said. “It was a surprise and it’s an error that serves as a learning experience.”

Since his return to the Indians last Thursday, Baez has batted at a .381 clip (8 for 21) with three home runs and eight runs batted in.

With Clinton, where he caught in 30 of the 49 games he played, Baez batted .221 (40 for 181) with five homeruns, 24 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

“I might be here the rest of the year, but I don’t know. I can’t give you an answer because that is not under my control,” said Baez, a 6-foot-1, former outfielder, who was converted to catcher two years ago. “I’ll go forward. I have too. Besides, I feel good here.

“The natural reaction is to feel bad when you are sent down. You want to get to the majors and you don’t do it by going down. You do it by going up.”