Jenrry Mejia returned to the mound Thursday, pitching for the Dominican Summer League Mets2 in his first appearance in an MLB-affiliated league since 2015. Mejia was reinstated from his permanent suspension under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program last month when his appeal was approved.
Mejia started and pitched four scoreless innings against the Rookie-level DSL Brewers in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, allowing one hit and striking out three of the 13 batters he faced.
The former Mets reliever received a lifetime ban after becoming the first player to violate MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy three times. Mejia was initially suspended 80 games in April 2015 for testing positive for stanozolol, then again for a full season in July 2015 for stanozolol and a second drug, boldenone. He received his lifetime ban on Feb. 12, 2016, making him eligible to apply for appeal at the beginning of this season.
Mejia last pitched for the Mets on July 26, 2015. He's 9-14 with a 3.68 ERA and 28 saves through 113 games (18 starts) games in the big leagues. He made 20 combined appearances from 2015-17 in the Dominican Winter League and the Venezuelan Winter League.