Marlins Reportedly Up to 15 Players With COVID-19, Phillies-Yankees Already Postponed Again (UPDATE)
The fallout from this weekend’s Marlins outbreak is going to be a multi-day thing, given the potential impact to other teams, the wait time on tests, and the process of actually getting our arms around just how bad things got with the Marlins.
To that end, with more testing coming in, the Marlins reportedly have four more positive tests for players (which takes the total up to 15 players, half their entire roster):
The latest round of testing from the Miami Marlins found four new coronavirus positives, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN. That brings the total over the last five days to 17. @Ken_Rosenthal first reported the newest COVID-19 cases.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2020
Yes, fill in with the 60-man player pool and all that, but surely this goes far beyond what MLB was actually prepared to have happen in the first week of the season. Can the Marlins and MLB actually expect to proceed normally, even if this is the full extent now of the outbreak? Missing half their roster for weeks at a time?
At a minimum, you hope the whole group will ultimately be OK, and the spread has not impacted other teams. It is impacting other games, however, as not only is Marlins/O’s once again off the schedule for today, but another Phillies game (where the Marlins played this weekend) is off:
MLB source confirms that tonight’s Yankees-Phillies game has been postponed. Some Phillies players are still waiting for test results.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 28, 2020
I’m not sure if that’s a matter of “waiting for test results” because it’s still a slow turnaround, or if it’s waiting because MLB did the smart thing and had these guys tested on Sunday, Monday, AND this morning. Do that, get clearance on the players through today, and then *MAYBE* you could feel minimally confident that the Marlins outbreak did not impact the Phillies.
As it stands, if these are tests from only Sunday and/or Monday? Are you really gonna feel like you know a player or two didn’t simply test negative, but then the virus developed sufficiently today to spread around, and then by this weekend you’ve got another team facing decimation? I honestly don’t have the answers to those questions.
I guess at a bare minimum, at least MLB isn’t plowing ahead with the Marlins/O’s and Phillies/Yankees games?
UPDATE: I’ll share the info because it’s news, but I’d also encourage folks to take Passan’s admonition seriously – this really doesn’t tell us a ton yet:
Now … it's important to understand that just because the Phillies' tests have come back clean today doesn't clear them. The incubation period for the coronavirus, per the CDC, is up to 14 days. No positives today doesn't mean there are no positives. A good initial sign, though. https://t.co/5dQnOEurzE
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2020
