LOWELL -- Red Sox top prospect Michael Chavis returned from his 80-game suspension Monday and he remains adamant he never took performance enhancing drugs.

"When I found out about this, I actually said, 'Are you sure you called the right person?'" Chavis recalled. "Cause I was like, 'There's no way. There's absolutely no way.'"

The 22-year-old third baseman/first baseman was suspended without pay for testing positive for Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a form of anabolic steroid. But he immediately came out with a strong statement on Twitter denying the use of any performance enhancers.

Chavis went 0-for-3 with a walk for Short Season Lowell in his return. The Red Sox will ease him back to Double-A Portland.

"I went through everything that I could have possibly put into my body," Chavis said. "I was like a mad scientist, dude. I was looking like, 'What if I took Zyrtec combined with this? Would it show up as this?'"

He said he looked into everything he consumed in the past year.

"I even asked, 'Is it possible Uber Eats had something in there?'" Chavis said. "I went through everything. I was like, 'I ate a chocolate smoothie. Maybe they put something in there.

"I called Tropical Smoothie. I called all the places I was eating at," he added. "I was like, 'Is there any possibility?' Like, 'Are you using hormones on your chicken?' I was asking everybody. I was going through everything. I was tearing my life apart. I was looking at the eye drops that I use when my contacts got dry."

He said he doesn't have answers despite how he "tore apart his closet." He still is trying to figure out what resulted in the positive test.

"I mean I've already served. So it's kind of a tough situation because I'm still trying to figure out what happened," he said. "Because at the end of the day, it's something for me personally where I want to do as much as I can just to say, 'Hey, I didn't do this.'

"If you don't believe me, I get it. It's a tough situation," he added. "Up until this situation, I've been one to say, 'Everybody says they don't do it.' I get that. But I'm still kind of searching for an answer. I've done a lot of research on the actual drug itself and about specifically MLB testing with this specific drug. And I think there are ... some holes in what's going on potentially. But at this point now, I think I need to focus more on what I'm doing on the field."

Chavis said he doesn't take supplements. He said he took protein and creatine in the offseason.

Most importantly, he wanted his family and friends to trust him.

"One of the things that concerned me most was the people that I know," Chavis said. "Obviously if you don't know me, you have no reason to believe what I say, which I understand. I can handle that. But I was more concerned with the people that knew me as a person, who were close to me. I wanted to make sure that they understood this wasn't something I would do.

"I wouldn't do it," he added. "I'm scared of needles. I wouldn't. Plain and simple, I wouldn't do it. So I just wanted to voice it as well as I could to the people who were supporting me and didn't know me personally so they maybe could get a glimpse of what was going on."

He's willing to answer any questions. He said he has nothing to hide. He has learned a great deal throughout this process. He learned a lot more about the testing system.

"Without a doubt, dude. That's why I was replying to haters on Twitter," Chavis said. "I was like, 'I have nothing to hide. Go in my house. I don't care. Live with me for a year. I wouldn't do it.' I even offered myself as a guinea pig. I was like, 'You can test me every single day for the rest of my career.' I don't care. If there's an issue, let's try and figure it out. Obviously there's some stuff going on. I was more than happy to try to figure it out. I had nothing to hide."

He doesn't feel he needs to reestablish himself in the organization. He said the Red Sox supported him during the suspension.

"I believe from everything that has gone on, I think they have a good understanding of who I am as a person," Chavis said.

Chavis bashed 31 home runs, stroked 35 doubles and two triples, drove in 94 RBIs, and batted .282 with a .347 on-base percentage, .563 slugging percentage and .910 OPS in 126 games between High-A Salem (59 games) and Portland (67 games) during 2017.

"I know what I'm capable of," he said. "I know everything I did last year was me. I plan on going out there and doing the same thing I did last year."

Chavis' aunt and uncle surprised him by driving from Connecticut to watch him play Monday.

He's not concerned about how quickly he advances to each level and eventually returns to Double-A Portland.

"My end goal is obviously Boston this year," Chavis said. "Given the circumstances I understand that there are some complications and some things that are going on behind the scenes. But my goal hasn't changed. Before this all happened, I wanted to be up by the All-Star Break. So I'm going to push that back."

He felt more comfortable at the plate Monday than he anticipated.

He faced some live pitching during live batting practices at JetBlue Park where he worked out throughout his entire suspension.

"But it's a little bit different when you get into a game," Chavis said.

He played a lot of Fortnite and worked out hard during his time in Florida. He still is very muscular and approximately the same size as he was during spring training.

"I like to joke around a lot so this time I spent off I was like, 'If people are going to think I'd do it, might as well try to look like it,'" he joked.

He also hired a company to make pre-made meals.

"So I was watching all my calories and everything I was intaking," he said.