Not that you want anyone to test positive for COVID-19 right now, but if the Washington Nationals were going to have an outbreak, I can understand why Cubs fans would especially not want to see old friends Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber impacted. That goes double for Lester for health reasons, as he is a cancer survivor.
Unfortunately, they’ve been impacted in at least some way, as they are among the Nationals who will reportedly be out this week in relation to the outbreak:
The team has nine players in quarantine/isolation b/c of coronavirus protocols. Four have tested positive. Five have been deemed close contacts and are quarantining due to potential exposure. Not saying that any of the above players are definitively in one group or the other.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) April 4, 2021
As explicitly stated there, the fact that Schwarber and Lester (and Josh Harrison, a former Cubs prospect, and Alex Avila, another former Cub) are expected to be out this week does not necessarily mean that they were the positive tests. That would be a logical conclusion given that four players tested positive and four players are identified there by name (and it’s already known that those four, in particular, will be out this week). But technically, it’s possible they are just sufficient close contacts that they’ve gotta be held out.
In any case, you just hope for the best health-wise on these guys. As we’ve seen, the impact of the virus is so unpredictable, even among healthy athletes – some are completely unaffected, while others get really sick and suffer from after-effects.
Positive tests will keep a player out at least 10 days, so any of this group who has tested positive likely wouldn’t be eligible to return until next weekend.