Utilityman cufflinks Willians Astudillo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Twins announced today. Dan Hayes of The Athletic was one of those who covered the news on Twitter.
Fortunately, Astudillo does not appear to have had a worrying reaction to the disease at this time. He is said to have no symptoms at this time.
The Twins reported three other players who have active coronavirus infections. Edwar Hill and Nick Gordon they are among them, having previously tested positive. Both are in the 60-man player pool; Gordon is in the 40 men. Neither player has debuted at this time in the majors.
There is also a fourth, unnamed player who, like Astudillo, tested positive for admission. Obviously, that player has not accepted public disclosure, as Astudillo did.
It would certainly be unfortunate if the Twins opened the season without Astudillo. He’s one of the game’s wackiest players, and not just for his barrel figure and high-energy focus. Astudillo is not only puzzling, but he is also legitimately interesting as a player, due to his combination of positional versatility (including catcher, his leading position) and his unusual propensity to put the ball in play (score rate of 2.3% of the career, strikeout rate of 3.7%). Although it wasn’t as effective last season as it was in his brief debut in 2018, Astudillo was and is expected to be a big part of Minnesota’s roster this year.
