Reds prospect just paid the ultimate price after getting busted for PEDs

Peyton Holt's career, for all intents and purposes, is over. The Cincinnati Reds prospect, who was part of the organization's Single-A affiliate in Daytona, was hit with an 80-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. The Reds released Holt on Wednesday after learning of his positive test for GW1516, a substance banned under the Minor League Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Holt was undrafted after playing college baseball at the University of Arkansas. The 24-year-old became a viral sensation during the Razorbacks' 2024 season when he deked the opposing base runner while attempting to make a catch in the outfield. The move froze the runner at third base, and ultimately ended with a tag out at the plate to end the inning.

Reds prospect Peyton Holt just paid the ultimate price after getting busted for PEDs

That highlight play with Arkansas, however, might be the only one Holt ever makes. He will now miss what amounts to the first-half of the 2026 Minor League season, and that's only if a team is willing to take on the risk.

Holt is not Noelvi Marte, who was busted for PED use just last year. Marte, however, was a top prospect in the organization and the key piece of blockbuster trade the Reds pulled off with the Seattle Mariners in 2022. While Cincinnati certainly didn't appreciate being blindsided last spring, they weren't going to move on from Marte following his positive test for Boldenone.

Holt, however, was an undrafted player who signed a minor-league contract this past spring and was hitting just .151/287/.252 in 43 games for the Daytona Tortugas this season. Holding on to him after testing positive for PEDs was not worth it.

Holt isn't the only player who's been popped for PED use this season. The most notable at the Major League level have been Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar and Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jose Alvarado.

Players who are caught using PEDs receive an 80-game suspension for their first offense and are suspended for an entire season after a second positive test. If a player is busted for performance enhancing drugs a third time, it results in a lifetime ban.

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