Florida’s COVID-19 outbreak continues to worsen as new case counts remain high and deaths continue to rise in a state that attempted to reopen amid the pandemic. And now the virus has sidelined a number of players on the Miami Marlins.
With caution and restrictions on names and testing, the best I can do is tell you the Marlins will likely be without at least three of their position players and one of their pitchers in the coming days. At the same time. Not sure how any team is supposed to overcome this.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) July 26, 2020
Rumblings emerged on Sunday morning that the franchise had seen some positive coronavirus test results. Hours before the game, scheduled starting pitcher Jose Urena, who was slated to take on the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon, was scratched amid reports he tested positive.
Marlins starter Jose Urena was scratched for start vs. Phillies today as he tested positive. He feels fine, so that’s good.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2020
Later reports indicated that Urena was among three players who tested positive . What’s worrying, of course, is that the team is currently on the road, having played in Atlanta and now finishing its opening weekend series in Philadelphia.
Marlins had 3 players test positive prior to return to Spring Training 2.0 plus 1 on intake, then went 3 weeks in Miami camp with no positives, which is pretty amazing considering Florida’s recent record. But have 3 new positives now (they’ve been on road — Atl/Phil — since Tues) https://t.co/choASQOGDV
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2020
Sources: Marlins new positives include Cooper and Ramirez in addition to Urena, plus Alfaro had been positive. So they’ve now lost their starting RF, DH/1B and C in addition to one of their better pitchers. @ByRobertMurray 1st on some names
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2020
The news comes after the Washington Nationals started their title defense without Juan Soto, who tested positive for COVID-19 hours before the World Series champs opened at home against the New York Yankees. The obvious fear in any of these positive tests is whether contract tracing can pinpoint who athletes that have tested positive with interact with and who else is at risk and needs to be monitored to contain the spread further.
With the scrambled starting pitching situation, replacement starter Robert Dugger, struggled on the mound.
Robert Dugger, a fill-in starter for the Marlins, has thrown eight pitches and allowed three runs to Phillies. Marlins dealing with widespread COVID-19 issues, according to multiple reports.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 26, 2020
The sad reality of what Major League Baseball is attempting without a secure bubble is that athletes will continue testing positive as the abbreviated season goes on. What’s acceptable before teams have to stop playing games because of the danger of these outbreaks seems to be “more than three players, including your starting pitcher” right now, but the long-term impacts of COVID-19 among even healthy professional athletes is a worrying wrinkle of a very dangerous season of professional baseball.
Without a true separation of the professional baseball-playing population from the rest of America, these cases will continue to occur for as long as baseball is able to play. The hope is no athlete is truly at risk, but we’ve already seen significant trouble for baseball players who have dealt with COVID-19 before the season starts. Red Sox opening day starter Eduardo Rodriguez is shut down altogether after his earlier COVID-19 illness has caused myocarditis, a heart condition that diminishes the organ’s ability to pump blood. Rodriguez doesn’t want to opt out of the season, like many athletes attempting to play amid a pandemic that’s seen more than 4 million confirmed cases in the United States and likely many more undocumented cases as the pandemic worsens in many parts of the country.
Baseball’s cases will be well-documented now that the season has started, but so far the league’s hopes that they will be few and far between have been wildly unrealistic.
