So close. So close to getting to Opening Day without a COVID-19 impact to a big league roster. We even got past that Red Sox possible issue, which turned out to have maybe been a false positive.
But it’s a pandemic. Cases are climbing. This was going to happen, and it sucks:
The Nationals have a positive COVID-19 test. Mike Rizzo said on zoom, they will "certainly" have to make some roster moves. 5 people have been deemed close contact. They open against the Mets tmrw night.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) March 31, 2021
Mike Rizzo announces 1 positive test this morning among the Nationals. Says it will impact their opening day roster. 5 close contacts in quarantine. One is a staff member.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) March 31, 2021
The day before Opening Day and the Nationals have at least one positive, at least five others in quarantine, and it impacts the guys who were supposed to make the Opening Day roster. That’s bad enough – now you just hope there was no other spread, and that everyone was still following the protocols closely enough. And you hope everyone turns out OK.
Players have been advised by the league and the players association to get a vaccine when they are made available (many states already have availability to all over 16 years old), and when they reach 85% coverage, the protocols/restrictions can be lessened, since outbreaks are no longer realistic at that point. Until then, we are still going to be dealing with these issues among teams.