The reality that we’re facing – a novel virus that had been spreading for weeks before serious detection methods were in place (even now, we still need exponentially more testing in place) – meant that it was only a matter of time before the first pro ballplayer tested positive for the Coronavirus, COVID-19.
Here it is:
The Yankees player who tested positive for coronavirus was only on the minor league side of the team's facility in Tampa. Still, as we're learning about coronavirus' ability to spread, that distance alone does not necessarily protect those who are nearby from contracting it.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 15, 2020
Hopefully the player will be OK. For the MOST part, this illness is very manageable by young and/or healthy individuals. For some, however, it can turn into a bad case of pneumonia (which I’ll tell you from family knowledge, can have a lifelong impact, even in otherwise healthy folks). So definitely, the first hope here is that the young man will be fine after he gets care.
More broadly, though, you wonder how he became infected, and how many people in the Yankees organization he had close contact with while he was a carrier. That’s how the exponential spread can be bad even before you realize how many people are sick. And in the clubhouse situations at baseball facilities? Hopefully we don’t see too much more spread around the Yankees, or other baseball teams.
The Yankees’ minor league complex was closed on Friday and Saturday. Yankees PR said there is no link from the infected player to anyone in big league camp.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 15, 2020
UPDATE: As expected, a quarantine:
Starting today, all #Yankees minor leaguers will be quarantined for two weeks, sources tell me and @LindseyAdler. Food will be delivered to them at their hotel rooms. Team learned earlier that a NYY minor leaguer tested positive for COVID-19.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 15, 2020