With the negotiations hurdle between MLB and the players association in the past (while it wasn’t technically cleared, it is now in the rearview mirror, at least for now) we will have baseball in 2020. The league said that the season would start either on July 23 or 24, and players will start reporting to camp on July 1st.
The common enemy is, and always was, the current, ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that instead of decreasing in cases, deaths and importance, is spiking as we speak. In the last few hours, the outbreak hit MLB very hard.
The Philadelphia Phillies announced that more players and staffers tested positive for the virus, while a former New York Yankees‘ reliever, Phil Diehl (the one they sent to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for outfielder Mike Tauchman) also has the disease.
An MLB star has coronavirus
Perhaps the most prominent player, performance-wise, to test positive for coronavirus in the last day is Rockies’ outfielder Charlie Blackmon. Starting pitcher Ryan Castellani also has the virus, so we could be talking about a possible outbreak in MLB in just a matter of days if the health and safety protocols aren’t effective.
Here is the Denver Post report about the Rockies’ situation:
“Several Rockies have been working out at Coors Field this month, including taking live at-bats. The positive tests came late last week, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One player was showing symptoms and the other two were asymptomatic.
“After the three players tested positive, all of the other players who were working out at Coors Field were tested for coronavirus. Those tests came back negative. Per Major League Baseball protocol, Coors Field has been closed for the week.”
Per NJ.com, about 40 players and staff members reportedly tested positive for the virus last week.