The Miami Marlins will take a break during their season to focus on the health and safety of their players, as an outbreak of the corona virus has hit the team, the league said.
Sportsgrid’s Craig Mish reported for the first time that the Marlins games would be temporarily suspended. Major League Baseball later released a statement on the subject.
ROB MANFRED DOESN’T THINK MARLIN’S OUTBREAK IS A ‘NIGHTMARE’ SITUATION FOR MLB HOW POSITIVE COVID-19 TESTS GROW
The league announced that Marlin’s games would be postponed to Sunday. MLB also said games between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees would also be postponed. The Yankees would start a home-and-home series against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday
“The health and safety protocols were developed taking into account challenging circumstances such as those of the Marlins. The response described in the MLB-MLBPA joint operations manual was triggered immediately after the group of positive cases including contact tracking and quarantine became known and testing all identified close contacts. The positive Marlins staff remains isolated and looked after, “said MLB in a statement.
“In more than 6,400 tests conducted since Friday, July 24th, there have been no new positive results from local staff from any of the other 29 clubs. This result has been in line with encouraging overall data since the tests began on June 27. To the last On Thursday, July 23, 99 of the 32,640 samples – 0.3% – were positive.
“The difficult circumstances of a club increase the need to carefully follow the protocols in all ways, both in and out of the field. We will continue to improve our protocols and make any necessary adjustments. The reality of the virus is still great and we have to think about it every day. We are confident that clubs and players will act appropriately for themselves and for others, and the data give reason to believe that the protocols can work effectively. “
At least four Marlins players tested positive for the Corona virus prior to Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins and Phillies played anyway, but the positive tests at that time only seemed to be the tip of the iceberg.
Several other players reportedly tested positive for the corona virus on Monday. The Marlins were forced to postpone games between the Baltimore Orioles. The Phillies series against the New York Yankees was also interrupted.
On Tuesday, The Athletic reported that four other players had tested positive, increasing the total to 17 positive cases.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke on Monday about the situation in the MLB network.
YANKEES-PHILLIES postponed for the 2nd even day
“I don’t put that in the nightmare category,” he said. “We don’t want a player to be exposed. It’s not a positive thing, but I don’t see it as a nightmare.”
He continued: “We made the minutes so we could continue playing. That’s why we have the extended rosters. That’s why we have the expanded pools of additional players. We believe we can ensure people’s safety and keep playing. “
The growing number of cases could mean trouble for the Marlins, a problem Manfred says must be addressed if it actually happens.
“A team that loses a number of players who have made it completely uncompetitive would be a problem that we would have to address and think about changing – whether that would shut down part of a season, the whole season, that depends depending on the circumstances, “he said.
He continued, “The same is true for the entire league. You are reaching a certain point in the whole league where it becomes a health threat and we would certainly close at that point.”
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So far, MLB owners have reportedly not spoken about canceling the entire season.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
