Kris Bryant announced last Tuesday that she had landed in Chicago, holding her young son in her arms during the flight. That same day, he underwent an admission test. He was not scheduled to undergo his second round of COVID-19 testing until Sunday.
“I’m not trying to be callous in any way because there are a lot of people struggling who need proof,” the Cubs third baseman said. “I really want that to be seen. But at the same time, MLB created this lab and did all of this to run a season. I know there will be hiccups, but you can’t hiccup with this. “
Bryant’s frustrations echoed throughout the league on Monday. The Astros, Nationals and Cardinals canceled their workouts Monday while awaiting test results. The Angels and Diamondbacks also had delays. The Athletics postponed their first-place player training on Sunday, also due to testing complications.
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According to a league statement, more than 95 percent of the admissions tests had been “taken, analyzed, and shared with all 30 clubs” on Monday afternoon. MLB expects the remaining tests to be completed by the end of the day. Those who have completed the tests are scheduled to take place every other day from now on.
“Our plan required extensive delivery and shipping services, including proactive special accommodations to account for the holiday weekend,” MLb said in a statement. “The vast majority of those deliveries occurred without incident and allowed the protocols to work as planned. Unfortunately, several situations included unforeseen delays. We have addressed delays caused by the holiday weekend and we do not expect a recurrence. We commend the Affected clubs that responded correctly by canceling training. “
The Cubs, who had not announced any positive COVID-19 testing as of Monday night, have not faced the same scares of testing as other teams. But manager David Ross said he voiced his concerns to the league, advocating for more frequent testing and a faster return of results.
“It’s definitely new for everyone,” Ross said, “so you want to try and give the Major League Baseball a little bit of slack in some areas because we all need some slack in some areas, but I think the protocols that are in place they are for a reason and we have to do these tests. “
MLB converted a laboratory in Utah, which had previously handled minor league baseball drug testing, into a COVID-19 testing center in preparation for the season. The 2020 operations manual the players signed promises that players will be evaluated every other day during summer camp and the season. Albert Almora, like Bryant, said he underwent admission tests on Tuesday and had his second round of tests on Sunday.
“So it was a big gap in the middle,” he said. “A lot of guys were not happy about that. … As careful as it is, (the virus) is an invisible thing that it has no control over, even if it does everything right. It’s hard. It is something we have to overcome, and hopefully it will improve. I know everyone is solving their problems, but I hope we can get this right away and get the evidence they promised us. “
Almora predicted that fixing the testing process will ease some players’ concerns about playing this season. Players like Almora and Bryant are concerned that COVID-19 may house their families. Bryant said he is not considering opting out, but has thought about it before.
“I wanted to play this year,” Bryant said, “because I felt it would be safe and I would feel comfortable.” But honestly, I really don’t feel that way, so I’m trying to keep my distance from everyone and wear my mask just so we can get this going. “
If MLB comes to Opening Day, and Bryant sees it, it would be “silly” not to include that “yes,” the regular season adds a host of new concerns.
“You are traveling and you are on a plane, in your hotel, you are receiving room service, who knows what people are doing?” Bryant said. “Especially in the other teams too; you have to trust everyone in all of this. I think if we can’t get the easy part done, which is now and only our players, we have a great hill to climb.”
Bryant, a former Cubs MLBPA representative, said he was “ashamed” of how the MLB restart negotiations went publicly. Now, he thinks that so much time was spent on economic talks that discussions on health and safety were rushed.
“It was a disaster,” said Bryant. “And it’s still a mess, and I hope we can find a way to fix that and fix things and get back to normal.”
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