Chris Szagola / Associated Press
Four other Miami Marlins players have reportedly received positive COVID-19 tests amid the club’s outbreak.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the update on Tuesday:
Ken Rosenthal @ @Ken_Rosenthal
The Marlins remain in Philadelphia. The source says that one of the former team members who tested positive had a subsequent test that was negative. He would need two negatives at least 24 hours apart in order to return. https://t.co/EG0HkVib9P
The Marlins had at least 14 known cases of coronavirus among players and coaches as of Monday, according to Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers of ESPN.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said during an appearance on the MLB Network on Monday that he was hopeful that the Marlins could return to action on Wednesday or Thursday. He noted that a meeting with the league’s owners contained no discussion about stopping the season:
“We talked about the situation. I think most homeowners realize that we created protocols anticipating that we would have positive tests sometime during the season, that the protocols were created to allow us to continue to play on those positives.” I think there was support for the idea that we believe protocols are adequate to keep our players safe. “
Along with the Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies postponed their games on Monday and Tuesday. The Phillies played Miami over the weekend.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter released a statement Monday:
“The health of our players and staff has been and will remain our primary focus as we navigate these unknown waters. After a successful Spring 2.0, we have now experienced challenges once we hit the road and left Miami. Postponing the tonight’s home Game One was the right decision to make sure we took a collective hiatus and tried to properly understand the entirety of this situation. We have conducted another round of testing for our players and staff, and our team will remain in Philadelphia pending the results of those tests, which we expect later today. We will provide additional information as soon as it becomes available. “
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that the Marlins could have trouble completing their 30-man roster as a result of the plethora of positive tests:
Jon Heyman @ @JonHeyman
Marlins may have a difficult time completing the active roster of 30 men considering their outbreak of positives. I’m currently trying to figure out how to make it work, as many candidates for the call are not in 40 men. You may need to consider playing under 30.
Miami was scheduled to play Baltimore at home on Mondays and Tuesdays before traveling north to face the O’s on the road on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The Marlins are slated to return home on Friday for six games, three each against the Phillies and the Washington Nationals.
It is unclear when the club will resume play and whether the condensed 60-game schedule of the regular season will leave enough time for all postponed games to take place if there is a long pause.
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