Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

On Tuesday, Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Ian Kahaloa was suspended 50 games after a second positive test for a “drug of abuse,” or recreational drugs as defined by Major League Baseball. Several weeks before that, videos circulated around social media that appear to show the 19-year-old Kahaloa using recreational drugs while wearing a Reds shirt.

Reds player development director Jeff Graupe, who has known about the videos since they were made public, called them “alarming.” Kahaloa had already tested positive before the videos were posted, although it’s possible they were originally recorded before the right-hander was drug-tested.

“We’re obviously really concerned,” Graupe said. “We’re working to get Ian the help and assistance that we believe he needs to get his long-term future to a more stable place. We’re kind of putting the baseball on the backburner.”

Kahaloa was Cincinnati’s fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft out of a Hawaii high school. Entering this season, he was ranked as the Reds’ No. 26 prospect by Baseball America. Last year, he had a sub-3.00 ERA in 10 starts with the rookie-level Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League.

There are four videos, all of which appear to be a third party’s recording of videos that Kahaloa posted to his Snapchat account. They were posted by the Twitter user @Reds_1fan, who did not return requests for an interview. All four videos were filmed of someone’s phone, each one beginning with someone clicking on one of Kahaloa’s postings in the Snapchat app.

One of those videos shows someone using a rolled up dollar bill to snort what appears to be cocaine. The camera then quickly pans up to show what looks to be Kahaloa drinking out of a large bottle of Coca-Cola while in a Reds shirt. The Snapchat posting was captioned “Party time lets go”.

A second video shows a bong and what appears to be a large amount of marijuana, before transitioning to a photo of what appears to be two lines of cocaine. Two other videos, both captioned “Wake and bake,” also show a bong and marijuana. The second of those then transitions to a video of Kahaloa using a Snapchat filter to look like a deer.

Kahaloa’s agent, Dave Matranga of PSI Sports, said he could not confirm that Kahaloa was the person featured in the videos. When Graupe was asked if it was in fact Kahaloa, he responded: “To the best of our understanding, yes.”

Graupe said the Reds have known about the videos since they were posted in mid-March, but were aware that the 19-year-old right-hander was dealing with recreational drug issues before then. Because of that, Kahaloa was held from minor-league spring training at the organization’s behest.

Matranga said Kahaloa is currently in a drug treatment program.

“The Reds are supporting Ian,” Matranga said. “He’s in rehab right now to try and get himself back on track. He’s committed to doing whatever the Cincinnati Reds need him to do. He’s accepting his punishment, and obviously he failed a drug test. We’re doing everything we can to help the young man get his life back on track.”

The failed drug test was Kahaloa’s second, although the first does not trigger a suspension under MLB’s Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The second positive test triggers an automatic 50-game suspension.

Because Kahaloa was assigned to Billings at the time of the suspension, he’ll miss most of the Pioneer League season, which is 75 games long.

It remains to be seen if Kahaloa will return to playing baseball this year once his suspension is finished.

“There’s a rehabilitation process in place. We’re optimistic that all the pieces have been put together for Ian to come out of this in a better spot, and we’ll evaluate things at that time.”

The videos represent a cautionary tale about the permanence of social media and the internet, but Graupe said that’s at best the secondary lesson the Reds want Kahaloa to learn.

“Any time you have a situation like this, or really anything with a negative connotation, the first thing you address is the situation itself,” Graupe said. “This isn’t necessarily a social media problem. It’s let’s address the lifestyle and not put ourselves in those positions. Then from there, there is the message of that in the modern day, there’s fewer closed doors.”