Just as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred delivered a warning about the prospect of moving forward with the 2020 regular season, the league and Players Association announced 29 positive cases from their latest coronavirus (COVID-19) monitor testing phase.
For a one-week period that concluded this past Thursday, the number of monitoring samples collected and tested 11,895. Of the 29 new positives — a mere 0.2% — 20 were players and nine were staff members.
Further broken down, 21 of the 29 positives were from a single club. That of course is the Miami Marlins, who began to experience an outbreak last weekend but initially continued playing.
The eight positives among the remaining 29 teams were two MLB players, one alternate site player and five staff members. On Friday, it was reported the St. Louis Cardinals had two players test positive, and the organization has since discovered more with their traveling party.
When combining intake screening and ongoing monitor testing, the total number of positive tests is 128, which is 0.3% of the 44,535 samples have been collected since the process began June 27. Among the 128 positives, 104 have been players and 24 were staff members.
Dodgers implement new protocols
The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the middle of their first road trip of the season. While playing on the road has proven troublesome for the Marlins and Cardinals, the Dodgers have thus far managed to navigate the challenge.
They nonetheless chose to impose new guidelines for the dugout and celebrations, with Justin Turner at the forefront of the discussion.
Prior to Turner sharing news of the team’s initiative, manager Dave Roberts indicated there already were discussions within the clubhouse. “Essentially having that mask as part of your equipment, so it’s an easy access to put on when you’re not on the field of play,” Roberts said.
“Trying to keep the numbers down in the dugout. We’re certainly talking about it. We’ve worked hard to get to this point, so we just have to do everything we can to minimize the spread. I’m just as guilty as anyone.
“I’m an emotional guy and like to give dap to the players, but I’ve got to be better. We’ve all got to be better. It’s just got to be a more conscious effort by all of us to minimize the touching. Granted, when I high-five or fist bump, guys are wearing batting gloves. But you’ve still got to be mindful of things like that. It’s old habits we’ve got to find a way to break, especially in this time.”
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