The New York Mets have contained their COVID-19 problem to keep it within the one player and staff member who contracted it. With their entire traveling party testing negative now, the Mets have to figure out when to return to action for the second half of the season.
Midpoint of the MLB season for some teams is today. Mets are 3.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Mets have the ninth-best winning percentage in the NL. Top eight make the playoffs.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 23, 2020
Ideally, they can attempt to squeeze in a doubleheader on Monday with the New York Yankees. Returning to action on Monday is unlikely due to taking extreme caution with a potential outbreak. Tuesday marks the start of a series with the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. The Mets have not held any workouts since their last game, which could give them Monday as a day to get the team back on the field.
Negative Tests
The people who returned to New York received tests on Thursday and Friday with no positive results. MLB has not released Saturday and Sunday’s tests, and the Mets have not commented at any point about the entire matter. After the outbreaks to occur with the Marlins and Cardinals, the Mets handling of the situation is very encouraging to MLB.
While we do not know who the player that tested positive is yet, we will likely know when said player is not with the Mets when they resume play. Luckily no matter who it is, the Mets’ playoff aspirations are still very much alive. The NL East is full of underachieving teams who are dealing with personnel issues. The division is as wide open as any in all of baseball.
The assumption would be that Jacob deGrom restarts the Mets season on Tuesday. With the starting rotation in shambles, deGrom would technically start back-to-back games if he earned Tuesday’s start.