Jon Singleton will begin his third tour in Major League Baseball, eight years after he last played in the big league.
The Brewers announced Saturday that the first baseman would officially join Milwaukee after playing for the Triple A Nashville Sounds, marking the first time Singleton will make an MLB appearance since 2015, when he played for the Astros.
Singleton’s journey back to the big league was difficult and filled with off-the-field adversity. Singleton, who was drafted by the Phillies in the 2009 MLB draft and once considered one of Philadelphia’s best prospects, was traded to the Astros in a deal for Hunter Pence in July ’11.
However, in the 2012 season, Singleton found himself caught up in the first of multiple drug-related issues. Singleton tested positive twice for marijuana that season. As a result, following his second failed drug test, he was suspended 50 games in ’13 and spent a month in an inpatient treatment facility for addiction, he told the Associated Press.
Things appeared to be on the rise for Singleton in 2014 when he signed a five-year, $10 million agreement with the Astros, becoming the first player to land a multimillion-dollar contract before ever playing in an MLB game. After making his MLB debut in June that season, he played in 95 games for the team. He began ’15 in Triple A, before being called up for a 19-game stint with Houston. He was demoted again that season, and has not appeared in a Major League game since.
But in January 2018, the 31-year-old found himself in trouble again when he failed a third drug test, resulting in MLB suspending him for 100 games. Houston released him four months later.
In March 2022, after playing for Diablos Rojos del México in the Mexican League and joining the Sounds ahead of the ’22 season, Singleton told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com that his time away from baseball helped him put some things into perspective.
“I had to get away from baseball in order for things to slow down and for me to personally hit that reset button,” Singleton said. “I made some changes in my personal life with my friends and family and stuff like that, and ultimately, that led me to better habits.”
With Singleton on the roster, the Brewers face the Reds in Cincinnati at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
