Nationals: PED allegations toward Zimmerman aren't credible
The Washington Nationals are standing behind Ryan Zimmerman.
After it was revealed Sunday morning that Zimmerman's name was among three major leaguers linked to performance-enhancing drugs in a documentary by Al Jazeera called "The Dark Side - Secrets of the Sports Dopers," both Zimmerman and the Nationals denied any wrongdoing.
Related: Undercover documentary links Howard, Zimmerman to doping
"Ryan Zimmerman has been an integral member of the Washington Nationals family for the past 11 years," the team said in a statement. "During that time, he has been the model for all that we ask our players to be - contributing to his team, to his community, and to the game of baseball.
"We do not find Al Jazeera's report - which has already been recanted by their source - to be credible. Ryan has unequivocally stated that these allegations are false. The Lerner family and our organization fully support him. We are confident Major League Baseball's investigation will show the allegations levied in the report are unfounded. We willy cooperate with MLB, and refer all questions to them at this time."
Zimmerman was not shown in the report, but pharmacist Charlie Sly claimed he has known the two-time All-Star for six years, and said he has provided Zimmerman with the hormone supplement Delta 2.
"I worked with him in the offseason," Sly said. "That's how I get him to change some stuff."
The Philadelphia Phillies followed with a statement of their own hours later regarding first baseman Ryan Howard, who was also in the report.
"Ryan Howard has vigorously denied the allegations contained in tonight's airing of Al Jazerra's report titled 'The Dark Side,'" said the statement. "Ryan has spent his entire career with the Phillies and, during that entire time, has been an extremely well respected member of our team and an outstanding contributor to our community. We will fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by Major League Baseball and will refer all further questions to them concerning the Al Jazerra report."
Sly later recanted all statements made in the report.
MLB announced its plans to conduct a thorough investigation of the information, and said the league was not made known of the allegations until Saturday.