Major League Baseball season start overshadowed by Covid-19

Major League Baseball season start overshadowed by Covid-19

7/28/20
Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said he's "scared." The MLB team manager, who underwent a heart procedure last year, told reporters on Monday that his "level of concern went from about an 8 to a 12" after several Miami Marlins players tested positive for Covid-19. "I wash my hands -- I went from 47 times a day to probably 99 times a day," he said during a press conference. "Wear my mask everywhere I go. But there's always that concern. You don't know -- right now you don't know, because of my heart condition, what happens to me if I do get it." But so far, the MLB's efforts to keep players, coaches and other team members safe from the pandemic have proven to be challenging. Twelve Marlins players and two coaches have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to ESPN. The team did not travel back to Miami Sunday after a three-game series in Philadelphia, but stayed overnight for more testing. Chicago White Sox manager Ricky Renteria is being tested for the virus after he woke up Monday "with a slight cough and nasal congestion," general manager Rick Hahn said. Renteria wouldn't be managing the teams game Monday evening against Cleveland, Hahn said. "Out of an abundance of caution, Ricky will remain at the team hotel and not manage until we receive confirmation of today's test result," Hahn said in a statement.

Both the Marlins' Monday and Tuesday games were canceled, as was the New York Yankees Monday game at the Philadelphia Phillies, because of the spate of Covid-19 cases among Marlins players and staff. "We're doing some additional testing," league commissioner Rob Manfred said in an interview on MLB Network. "If the testing results are acceptable, the Marlins will resume play in Baltimore on Wednesday against the Orioles." While the cancellations raised questions about the games going forward, Manfred didn't talk about the prospect of canceling the rest of the 60-game regular season during a scheduled conference call with the league's 30 team owners Monday, a source with knowledge of the call told CNN.

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The COVID test results for White Sox Manager Ricky Renteria came back negative. But caution was necessary due to his age (58).

I have heard two different stories about the Marlins. One is that 3 Marlin players felt ill, but decided to tell no one and play anyway. The other is that they informed the team which held a team vote on whether to play that day. Neither story has been verified to my knowledge. Whatever happened, this reflects badly on Don Mattingly and the Marlin's organization. MLB has a thick COVID protocol book which spells out exactly what to do in different situations. I hope this episode doesn't end the 60 game MLB season. Right now it may be hanging by a thread.

Rogue Valley said:

Major League Baseball season start overshadowed by Covid-19

The COVID test results for White Sox Manager Ricky Renteria came back negative. But caution was necessary due to his age (58).

I have heard two different stories about the Marlins. One is that 3 Marlin players felt ill, but decided to tell no one and play anyway. The other is that they informed the team which held a team vote on whether to play that day. Neither story has been verified to my knowledge. Whatever happened, this reflects badly on Don Mattingly and the Marlin's organization. MLB has a thick COVID protocol book which spells out exactly what to do in different situations. I hope this episode doesn't end the 60 game MLB season. Right now it may be hanging by a thread.

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I heard 4 Marlin players. And if the 2nd is true, that they informed the team, and Mattingly and Jeter decided to let them play anyway? There should be hell to pay...

118 pages or whatever of Covid protocol yet the team's brass let them play? If that's true they should be fired and banned from baseball forever. Seriously, not only because it's obviously dangerous to the other people in the ballpark and on the field(Umps,workers, staff,etc.) a case could be made they were/are trying to sabotage the season.

its wild that America is going forward with baseball in regions that are the hottest covid spots in the world.

Higgins86 said:

its wild that America is going forward with baseball in regions that are the hottest covid spots in the world.

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They should IMMEDIATELY put MLB in bubble clusters and divide the teams into three cities - Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

Rogue Valley said:

Major League Baseball season start overshadowed by Covid-19

The COVID test results for White Sox Manager Ricky Renteria came back negative. But caution was necessary due to his age (58).

I have heard two different stories about the Marlins. One is that 3 Marlin players felt ill, but decided to tell no one and play anyway. The other is that they informed the team which held a team vote on whether to play that day. Neither story has been verified to my knowledge. Whatever happened, this reflects badly on Don Mattingly and the Marlin's organization. MLB has a thick COVID protocol book which spells out exactly what to do in different situations. I hope this episode doesn't end the 60 game MLB season. Right now it may be hanging by a thread.

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they should cancel the season and be done with it...see ya next spring, hopefully things will have improved.

Bucky said:

They should IMMEDIATELY put MLB in bubble clusters and divide the teams into three cities - Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

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Dodgers should bring symbols and trash can lids to Houston tonight to bash together.

If the 12 Marlins players again test positive, then they must undergo quarantine for 14 days if I recall correctly, and then test negative twice before being allowed to rejoin the team.

Who would take their place in the interim? 12 members of the Marlins "taxi squad"?

That's an unfair advantage to the eastern division teams that are scheduled to play the Marlins during the next two weeks.

Bucky said:

They should IMMEDIATELY put MLB in bubble clusters and divide the teams into three cities - Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

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All of you are going this route. So. Maybe the Qovidiots will pay more attention now that their sports are being hurt by this zoonotic disease.

Too bad we aren’t as smart or strong as the vast majority of nations on this planet. It didn’t have to be this bad or this stupid.

Dodgers were thin at starting pitching before Kershaw and Wood went down. Wonder if they’d like Ryu back.

Majority of Nationals players vote against traveling to Miami for upcoming series vs. Marlins, report says..

Following the Marlins outbreak, the "vast majority" of Washington Nationals players voted against traveling to Miami for a three-game series this upcoming weekend, reports The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. The report comes one day after Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters "I'm scared. I really am." Martinez missed time last season with a heart condition.

Washington's player vote is another indication the personnel on the field are not confident (or are at least less confident) in the health and safety protocols in the wake of the Marlins outbreak. Martinez admitted he is scared and David Price said he opted out because he did not believe the player's "health wasn't been put first."

Now an entire team -- the defending World Series champions, at that -- have voted against traveling to play a team experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in a state where the virus is running rampant. Florida currently has the second-most COVID-19 cases of any state. When players say they don't feel safe traveling to play games, it's hard to see how MLB could force them to do exactly that.

The Nationals player vote puts commissioner Rob Manfred in a difficult spot. Either he orders the Nationals to go to Miami and looks callous, or he caves and invites the other 29 clubs to essentially dictate travel the rest of the season. It is within Manfred's rights to send the Nationals to Miami, but if safety is truly the No. 1 concern, then it might be wise to listen to the players.

The obvious alternative to playing the series in Miami is playing it in Nationals Park with the Marlins serving as the "home" team. The Nationals will be the "road" team for a two-game series against the Blue Jays at Nationals Park this Wednesday and Thursday. The Blue Jays are waiting for upgrades to be made to Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo before playing games there.

Majority of Nationals players vote against traveling to Miami for upcoming series vs. Marlins, report says - CBSSports.com

Reports are looks like Marlins will not play again until at least Monday... Phillies are off until Friday. Which means the Nats won't have to go to Miami, BUT they now not play a bunch of games, and they are not even involved in this outbreak.

I have no idea how this is going to work.. If the season continues, and some teams dodge the virus and play 60 games, but a team like the Marlins who has lost 1/2 their team will now play what? 45 games? 50? How the hell it that going to work?

Marlins won't play again until Sunday and Philly won't play until Friday. The season is already going off the rails not even a week in.

armycowboy said:

Marlins won't play again until Sunday and Philly won't play until Friday. The season is already going off the rails not even a week in.

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Yankees will play the Orioles instead of the Phillies on Weds and Thurs.. Nats won't play at all over the weekend..

Arrrggggg... My head hurts...lol

SenorXm/Sirius said:

Yankees will play the Orioles instead of the Phillies on Weds and Thurs.. Nats won't play at all over the weekend..

Arrrggggg... My head hurts...lol

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Indeed. I think the NFL season will be a lot trickier due to the nature of the sport and the larger rosters.

armycowboy said:

Marlins won't play again until Sunday and Philly won't play until Friday. The season is already going off the rails not even a week in.

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Why people were expecting something different is beyond me? Now let's get on with schools reopening.

can we just delay ball throwing for a year or so? i mean, it's not like they're gonna starve. they can play Bases Loaded on their Nintendos in the meantime. ****, that was at least twice as interesting as the real thing when i was a kid.

I love baseball.

This 2020 version is more like a Vegas game. It's surreal and can suddenly go bust.

The contrast between how the MLB season is going vs. how the NBA restart is going shows how necessary a bubble is.

The NBA wisely has one location with strict protocols for getting in. There will be no travel for the players for the duration of the season.

MLB foolishly decided against this, opting instead to let all the teams play in their home ballparks. This means more travel and more opportunities to get the coronavirus.

I predict that there is a decent chance that the NBA will be able to complete the season all the way through the Finals, and the 2020 MLB season might not even make it through August.

The NHL is somewhere in the middle, with two bubbles, but in Canada, where the per capita infection rate is much lower. The NFL? No bubbles. Not good for them. Neither for college football.

Phys251 said:

The contrast between how the MLB season is going vs. how the NBA restart is going shows how necessary a bubble is.

The NBA wisely has one location with strict protocols for getting in. There will be no travel for the players for the duration of the season.

MLB foolishly decided against this, opting instead to let all the teams play in their home ballparks. This means more travel and more opportunities to get the coronavirus.

I predict that there is a decent chance that the NBA will be able to complete the season all the way through the Finals, and the 2020 MLB season might not even make it through August.

The NHL is somewhere in the middle, with two bubbles, but in Canada, where the per capita infection rate is much lower. The NFL? No bubbles. Not good for them. Neither for college football.

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I've heard suggestions the colleges play in the spring. If NFL agrees to push back the draft, it could work.

armycowboy said:

I've heard suggestions the colleges play in the spring. If NFL agrees to push back the draft, it could work.

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College athletes have zero incentive to play. Why??? They aren't getting paid.

SenorXm/Sirius said:

Yankees will play the Orioles instead of the Phillies on Weds and Thurs.. Nats won't play at all over the weekend..
Arrrggggg... My head hurts...lol

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Gome plate has been brutal to the Astros in the top of the 5th. They actually escaped with only 5 runs with an inning-ending DP.

Bucky said:

College athletes have zero incentive to play. Why??? They aren't getting paid.

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College Athletes in Baseball have every incentive to play with minor leagues being cut back on and the # of draft picks being reduced. More exposure for sure.

Looks like the umps are going to level the field on the Astros, at least tonight against the Dodgers. :lamo

Astro hitters have ‘curve balls’ been thrown at their head and behind them by Kelly. Looked like words there. :mrgreen:

The Miami Marlins' season was suspended Tuesday by Major League Baseball after 15 players and two staff members tested positive for coronavirus between Friday and Tuesday. The Marlins remain in Philadelphia under quarantine. They are being tested daily. Each player must test negative twice in the span of more than 24 hours in order to return to active status. The mayor of Miami said that when the Marlins return to the city, they should quarantine for another 14 days. To fill any short roster, the Marlins can use any cleared 33 players players that travel with the team and any cleared 27 players housed at alternate training sites to fill out their roster. The Marlins will have to play 57 games in the 56 days remaining in the season. The Marlins have a scheduled off day on August 3 which can be used for a makeup game before they resume the season on August 4 against the Phillies.

Rogue Valley said:

The Miami Marlins' season was suspended Tuesday by Major League Baseball after 15 players and two staff members tested positive for coronavirus between Friday and Tuesday. The Marlins remain in Philadelphia under quarantine. They are being tested daily. Each player must test negative twice in the span of more than 24 hours in order to return to active status. The mayor of Miami said that when the Marlins return to the city, they should quarantine for another 14 days. To fill any short roster, the Marlins can use any cleared 33 players players that travel with the team and any cleared 27 players housed at alternate training sites to fill out their roster. The Marlins will have to play 57 games in the 56 days remaining in the season. The Marlins have a scheduled off day on August 3 which can be used for a makeup game before they resume the season on August 4 against the Phillies.

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We need to move-on boys. Getting coronavirus is not a death sentence. I am kind of surprised when someone gets the coronavirus it is still considered breaking news. The majority of people recover

Phillies are shut down until next week..