Jon Singleton was once one of the top prospects in the Houston Astros system. A high draft pick in 2009, Singleton was expected to be the first basemen of the future in Houston. Instead, years of drug abuse and suspensions delayed his arrival.
Singleton was suspended for 100 games before this season even began. It was his third failed drug test.
Singleton has admitted on several occasions that he has a drug problem, with marijuana being his substance of choice. While we can argue over the legitimacy of its legality, there's no question it isn't allowed in professional baseball, as per guidelines.
“At this point it’s pretty evident to me that I’m a drug addict. I don’t openly tell everyone that, but it’s pretty apparent to myself. I know that I enjoy smoking weed, I enjoy being high and I can’t block that out of my mind that I enjoy that. So I have to work against that,” Singleton said after his latest failed test.
Singleton's first positive test came in June 2012, his first month in Double-A, and he said he quit using marijuana for the rest of that season. After the season, during which he hit .284 with 21 homers and 79 RBIs, he went to the Arizona Fall League. He failed a second test in December 2012, with a 50-game suspension coming a month later. He was then admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation center for a month.
The 26-year-old first baseman was drafted by the Phillies in the eighth round of the 2009 Draft out of Millikan High School in Long Beach, Calif. He was traded to the Astros in July 2011, and signed a five-year, $10 million extension in '14, announced the day before his MLB debut.
Singleton was the No. 3 prospect in the Astros' organization behind Mark Appel and Carlos Correa when he made his big league debut on June 3, 2014, according to MLB Pipeline. In 95 games that season, he slashed .168/.285/.335 with 13 home runs. He appeared in 19 games for Houston in '15, slashing .191/.328/.298 with one home run.
Singleton hit .205/.376/.397 with 18 homers in 117 games for Double-A Corpus Christi in 2017.
