Cleveland sent referee Zach Plesac home on Sunday for violating the health and safety protocols of Major League Baseball, the team announced. Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the news. Plesac has violated team rules and league protocols by going out for reports on Saturday with Chicago. Cleveland is in Chicago for series against the White Sox and Cubs.
“I want to apologize to my teammates, the entire Cleveland organization and all of our fans for my actions Saturday night,” Plesac said in a statement. “I realize I made a bad choice to leave the hotel, which could have broken protocols and put other people at risk. I understand that in these times of uncertainty I need to be more vigilant and responsible and I am firm in forgiveness of my teammates and get back to work. ”
Plesac was sent via car service to Cleveland from Chicago. As a result of breaking the protocol, he will be quarantined for 72 hours and tested daily for COVID-19. He made his planned start on Saturday against the White Sox and threw six scoreless innings. It is unclear when he will take the mound again.
“I will keep the details of our conversation private,” baseball operations president Chris Antonetti told reporters, including Mandy Bell, of MLB.com, on Sunday. “But I had several conversations today with Zach and we talked through what happened. Of course, it reinforces the importance for everyone that we all take the protocols seriously and adhere to them, because our decisions and our behavior affect not only ourselves, but already our teammates, and I think Zach understands that.
“We take the protocols very seriously,” Antonetti added. “We all got together and talked about the importance of looking out for each other and making sure we did our best to minimize risk. And Zach’s behavior, unfortunately, was not consistent with that. So our players took time to talk through their thoughts and feelings, and that’s feedback we’ll get here the next day or two and factor that into what our next steps may be. ”
This is the first known instance of a player being punished for violating the league’s health and safety records. Cleveland taking rapid action with Plesac should help prevent any chance of exposure for the rest of the team and the club’s travel party. But according to the CDC, the incubation period for COVID-19 can extend to 14 days, with an average length of four to five days from the time of exposure to development of symptoms.
“We love Zach,” Shane Bieber told reporters including Bell. “We support him. But he’s shocked. We’re going to own this house. I think what we’s talking about as a team is that we need to focus on one thing at a time, and that was the game. And so I’m proud of the boys that they can process one thing at a time and go out and get the profit. But like I said, we’re going to this own house and we’ll see where it goes from here. ”
In updated COVID-19 health and safety protocols announced by the league, all 30 MLB teams were required to travel with a compliance officer who ensures team personnel and players adhere to the health and safety protocols of ‘ the league. Already in the 2020 MLB season, the Cardinals and Marlins have already suffered COVID-19 outbreaks and 27 games have been postponed.
