The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies will not play their first game in the series on Monday night as scheduled, Major League Baseball announced. The game at Citizens Bank Park has been postponed. The state of the game was questioned Monday morning, when it was confirmed that the Miami Marlins had a COVID-19 outbreak on their list.
The Marlins, who played against the Phillies in Philadelphia over the weekend in Philadelphia, have reportedly had at least 14 positive individuals since last week. That group includes catcher Jorge Alfaro, outfielders Garrett Cooper and Harold Ramirez, and pitcher Jose Urena, whose positive test forced him to be scratched from his start on Sunday.
In response to that news, the Marlins’ opening game, which was scheduled for Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles, was also postponed.
Here is part of a league statement:
Members of the Marlins’ tour group self-quarantine while awaiting the results of those results. Major League Baseball has been coordinating with the Major League Baseball Players Association; the marlins; the Orioles the Marlins’ weekend opponent, the Phillies; and the Club’s medical staff, and will continue to provide updates as appropriate.
Below are three things you should know about this story.
Direct response to the Marlins outbreak
As noted above, the Marlins occupied the Citizens Bank Ballpark clubhouse throughout the weekend. Based on what we know about how COVID-19 spreads, the chances of surface transmission appear relatively low. Still, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported Monday morning that the visiting clubhouse is being fumigated “50 Different Ways” in response to the news.
Quarantine of the Phillies visiting clubhouse staff
Similarly, the Phillies are said to be quarantining their clubhouse staff, who obviously had to spend time with numerous infected people. It is unclear how long the Phillies will ask their staff to isolate themselves, apparently the team will test them repeatedly over the next few days. (The Yankees, meanwhile, were preparing for their own assistants to make the trip, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.)
Still no positive evidence for Phillies
It should be noted that as of Monday morning, the Phillies had not had anyone on their payroll or COVID-19 positive coaching staff since the season resumed. That could change in the coming days, of course. The risk of transmission has been shown to be greater when people spend a prolonged amount of time in a closed or poorly ventilated area and in intimate dimensions. Comparatively, the odds of a player transmitting the virus to a player on another team during a game, often in a wide environment, outdoors and with close contact on the fly, appear low. However, bass is not the same as zero, which explains why the Phillies and Yankees won’t play on Monday night.
