Eric Thames hits first homer in three weeks, is immediately drug tested

Liz Roscher
·Staff writer

When Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames homered for the fifth consecutive game on April 17, in the middle of his blazing hot start, it was pretty funny when he went back to the clubhouse and found someone from MLB’s drug testing program waiting for him. He told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that “it comes with the territory.”

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Over the next eight games, Thames hit .321 and hit another four home runs, bringing his season total to 11 and his overall triple slash to .371/.482/.929. And — surprise, surprise! — he was tested again on April 25 and gave this stunningly marvelous interview.

Just a few days later, MLB decided to test out Thames’ claim that he has tons of blood and urine by testing him yet again, for the third time in 10 days.

Then Thames’ homer bashing went dormant for a while. He didn’t hit one for three weeks. Until Wednesday night. It was a monster two-run blast off New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom. And you’ll never guess what happened after the game.

Yup, he was drug tested again. At least Thames is continuing to find it amusing. It would be so easy, especially after going through a three-week homer slump, for him to be annoyed by it. But it pays to be good natured when you’re required to pee in a cup anytime MLB wants you to.

Milwaukee Brewers' Eric Thames, right, is congratulated by teammates and coaches after hitting a two-run home run against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Eric Thames high fives teammates after hitting his first home run in three weeks, not long before he’s drug tested for at least the fourth time in six weeks. (AP Photo)

Thames’ opinion on the randomness (or non-randomness) of the testing is understandable. From his point of view, it certainly doesn’t look random. But even though Thames has been drug tested a lot this season, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not random. From the outside it’s really hard to tell, least of all because Thames’ tests are the only ones being publicized. MLB players are probably tested every day, we just don’t hear about it.

Though it would be interesting to find out how often a player like Aaron Judge is being randomly tested. Thames’ situation is different than Judge’s — Judge is younger, for starters, and Thames is back in MLB this season after rebuilding in his career in Korea, so some people might be skeptical of his comeback. Still, nobody expected Judge to smack so many homers to high heaven this quickly, either. Learning more about how often someone like Judge is tested would shed some light on how random drug testing really is.

At least Thames’ latest drug-tested homer was worth being tested over. ESPN measured it at 436 feet, which is the longest of Thames’ career.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher