CLEVELAND, Ohio – Indian pitcher Zach Plesac revealed details over the night last week in Chicago when he violated Major League Baseball’s COVID-19 protocols and the club’s code of conduct by leaving the team’s hotel to leave with friends to meet after a game against the White Sox.
In an Instagram video captured as he drove through downtown Cleveland, Plesac told viewers he wanted to clear the air, give his opinion and receive some of the raw emissions he felt, leaving his followers all ” on the same page. ” However, he insists that the video was neither an apology nor a justification for his actions.
Plesac, 25, was started by slammed media who covered the incident, and characterized reports as “terrible.”
“They do some bad things to make stories and make things sound better … make things sound less,” Plesac said. “I really dislike the way the media handles this whole situation around our team.”
Plesac went through the details of August 8 when he dated friends and teammate Mike Clevinger, after cheering on the Indians after a win against the White Sox in Chicago. Plesac said after the game that he went to dinner with some buddies and that the group then went to an apartment to hang out. He later said that at no time was the group he was with larger than eight people.
“The same group we went with for dinner,” Plesac said. ‘We opened baseball cards, taking our top two dudes out of each pack. We drop bets. Just enjoy, hang out. ”
Plesac acknowledged the burglary of the doorman and said he was told by MLB security when he was in public and returned to the team hotel after 10 p.m. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti decided to pursue Plesac for three days, a decision that Plesac said was “great.”
On Monday, after it was revealed that Clevinger had been with Plesac but not self-reported to the team, Clevinger was also isolated and instructed to undergo further COVID-19 testing. Both pitchers were relegated to the restricted list prior to Tuesday’s game against the Cubs.
In the entire video, Plesac did not name Clevinger by name, nor did he acknowledge that Clevinger lied to Indian officials and teammates about his stay before taking the team’s flight to Cleveland on Sunday night.
Plesac revealed that he has taken two negative tests since returning to Cleveland, and that he questioned doctors about the latest investigation into what kind of social gatherings are considered safe in Ohio.
“Things are inevitable,” Plesac said. ‘You’ll see people, you’ll see social interaction. You can not sit in a room all day, that’s the truth of the matter. ‘
Plesac marvels at the way he and Clevinger are portrayed in the media as “bad teammates, bad people and dragged across the mud.”
“We practice safe practices in a small group with people we know have been tested and came back to our happiness late,” Plesac said. ‘It’s hard to sit here and watch things fall apart and people who do not know the truth.
Plesac said he understands that there are people who take risks to play first-class baseball during a global pandemic, and shares that his younger brother has Type-1 diabetes, which puts him in a high-risk category.
“I understand the significance of this disease and this disease and I know how important it is that we follow certain procedures and guidelines to ensure safety for the whole group,” Plesac said.
Plesac said there is a ‘selection of selflessness’ that has been learned and that at the end of the day he wants everyone to be healthy.
“It breaks my heart that people think I’m a bad teammate as a bad person,” Plesac said. ‘I want to win baseball games, man. That’s all I want to do. Whatever it takes me to get back on the diamond and strike up with people, trust me I’m ready when they need me. ‘
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