Major League Baseball suspended Rockies catcher Humberto Cota for 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The 29-year-old veteran backstop was batting .333/.359/.450 in 60 at-bats for Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Incidentally, Cota is the second veteran catcher to be suspended for PED use in the past month. The Giants’ Eliezar Alfonzo is currently serving his 50-game penalty for his failed test announced April 29.

Cota signed with the Braves out of Mexico in 1995 and passed through their organization (he was released in 1997) and then the Devil Rays’ (he was traded to Pittsburgh for Jose Guillen in 1999) before establishing himself as a prospect with the Pirates.

In his most extensive big league trial in 2005, Cota batted just .242/.285/.387 with seven home runs in 297 at-bats for the Pirates. He followed that up by batting .190 with one extra-base hit in 100 at-bats for the 2006 edition. His role was further reduced in 2007, and Cota left as a free agent after the season. The Rockies signed him March 22 after the Nationals had cut him at the end of spring training.