COVID-19 is already altering MLB’s plans of having a relatively normal season, as the Washington Nationals have an outbreak of the virus. They were going to open their season against the New York Mets on Thursday, but that plan went out the window as it was revealed yesterday that the Nats had one positive and four other players isolated due to contact tracing.
The situation got worse on Friday, as the Nationals now have a total of four positive tests in their roster and other five players and one staff member in quarantine after contact tracing. The events of the last 24 hours led MLB to cancel the Nats – Mets series, as the teams were scheduled to take the field on Saturday and Sunday.
The Nationals don’t know when they’ll play again, but the Mets’ season will start on Monday against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Naturally, Mets’ players are disappointed because they wanted to start playing as soon as possible, and now, they will be several games behind the rest of the NL East. That would mean multiple doubleheaders in the future, as well.
The Mets are staying ready no matter what
JD Davis, the Mets’ third baseman, talked about the situation over a Zoom call with reporters, as outlined by SNY.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Davis said. “Again, it can happen to anybody. We’re fortunate to have good protocols here and have good rules to track down this kind of a spiderweb with what’s going on over in the Nationals to kind of lock it down and get control of the virus.
“Guys, including myself, we were super pumped for Opening Day. Of course, it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. …I woke up at 9 a.m. on Opening Day, I was ready to go. Had breakfast, had coffee, I was already doing my scouting reports and everything, and then I got the word at like 10, 11 o’clock. So it was definitely a punch to the stomach, but it is what it is.”
Despite the continued inactivity, the Mets’ roster is staying in shape, according to Davis.
“We’re just [doing] the same old workouts we do in spring training: live ABs, seeing pitches come out of the hand, ground balls, live ground balls, BP, getting our sprints in and agility stuff in, just playing kind of sim games. Just kind of the same things we’ve been doing in spring training to keep us ready and keep us locked in,” he said.