The Cleveland Indians sent novice pitcher Zach Plesac home in quarantine after he went with friends to Chicago on Saturday night after his victory over the White Sox, according to a report.
Plesac will have to quarantine and test for coronavirus for 72 hours, reports The Athletic. The team let him drive a car, according to ESPN.
The excursion of the 25-year-old broke MLBs recently revised coronavirus protocols, which in part require players and staff to obtain permission from a compliance officer to leave the team hotel for any reason en route.
The guidelines were instituted after the outbursts of less than three weeks in the Marlins and Cardinals suffered in the short-lived 60-game season, disrupting multiple-team schedules.
St. Louis last played on July 29 because of nine players and seven staff members testing positive for the virus, and their upcoming series against the Pittsburgh Pirates has been postponed “in light of recent positive test results,” MLB said. The Marlins, who had 18 players, returned the games on August 4 after a nine-day absence and stand in first place in the NL East with a record of 7-3.
Both of these teams have denied reports that players visiting bars, casinos and even a strip club are causing their outbreaks.
It was unclear where Plesac was going or if he was wearing a mask, which MLB requires all players and staff to do when they are not on the field.
Cleveland similarly banned outfielder Franmil Reyes during spring training 2.0 after photos on social media showed him attending a party on July 4 without a mask, according to The Athletic.
Reyes demanded two negative tests before returning to the team.
Shortly before the suspension of Reyes ‘team release, Plesac told reporters,’ Go to the bars and drink or do things like that is not something that is really important to us right now and it should not be important at the moment if we have given this privilege to be able to return and play. ”
Plesac, a native Indiana, is 1-1 this season with a 1.29 ERA.
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