New York Yankees‘ reliever Adam Ottavino believes that the current stoppage due to the coronavirus pandemic is actually helping the Houston Astros, who were found guilty of stealing signs back in 2017.
Ottavino, one of the Yankees’ highest leverage relievers, thinks the Astros are being let off the hook for what they did in 2017. The current coronavirus outbreak, and the negotiations between the league and the players’ association are taking all the headlines.
“I don’t think people are going to forget it, but I think it’s helping them because that was the story of spring training up until the virus,” Ottavino said Wednesday on “The No-Sports Report” podcast. “That was all day, every day. It was already to the point where it was exhausting. And, I think that once the season started, they were going to be in for a lot of hatred from fans around the country.”
The New York Yankees’ reliever doesn’t want you to forget
Ottavino, who didn’t have a particularly good first postseason with the Yankees even though he had a fantastic regular season, thinks that because fans likely won’t be able to attend 2020 games, they won’t show the team the treatment it deserves after what they did.
“So, to me, I think this is helping them, especially when they come back, there are definitely not going to be any fans in the stands,” the right-handed pitcher said. “So, I think that helps them. Some of (the Astros) have kind of come out of the cave and went back on social media, doing all their stuff, and, you know, good for them, power to them.”
Before COVID-19 took the scene as the hottest topic of the moment, the Astros did receive very negative feedback from players and fans alike around spring training. Some players even threatened to retaliate in the field given that they though the punishment that MLB handed was too soft.