Steven Wine of the Associated Press reports that the Marlins have delayed their exit from Philadelphia until Monday due to concerns about a COVID-19 outbreak within the team. The Marlins are scheduled to play their home opener against the Orioles on Monday evening at 7:10 PM EDT.
On Sunday, Marlins pitcher José Ureña was scratched from his scheduled start against the Phillies in Philadelphia after testing positive for COVID-19. Outfielder Harold Ramírez and 1B/DH Garrett Cooper also tested positive for the virus. Manager Don Mattingly said, “The guys that tested positive are quarantined here in Philly.”
The Marlins won two out of the three games against the Phillies to start their season, including Sunday’s contest by an 11-6 margin.
Mike Moustakas of the Reds and Juan Soto of the Nationals are among the other players who won’t be with their teams either for undisclosed reasons or after testing positive for COVID-19. Many teams are more short-handed than they otherwise would be due to the virus. The Braves, for example, are without both of their top two catchers, Tyler Flowers and Travis d'Arnaud.
We’re one series into the 2020 regular season and the enormity of the task of playing a season amid a pandemic is becoming even more evident.