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COVID Notes: 3/7/21

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The latest on coronavirus-related situations around baseball…

Latest Updates

  • Right-hander Pedro Strop is being held out of the Cubs’ training camp due to COVID protocol violations, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports (Twitter link).  In regards to the earlier item about Franmil Reyes, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago reports that a now-deleted social media post revealed that Strop and Reyes were out together.  A fixture in the Cubs’ bullpen from 2013-19, Strop rejoined the team on a minor league deal last month after pitching for the Reds in 2020.

Earlier Today

  • Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes are both being held out of Indians training camp for breaking health and safety protocols, manager Terry Francona told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mandy Bell and the Akron Beacon Journal’s Ryan Lewis).  The players self-reported their violations, which included dining together at a restaurant and a haircut for Reyes on Friday.  Ramirez and Reyes will have to test negative for COVID-19 before returning to camp, with Francona saying that he hopes to know more specifics later today about possible return dates.
  • The Red Sox officially removed catcher Kevin Plawecki from the COVID-19 injured list and returned Plawecki to the 40-man roster.  A roster spot was created yesterday when the Blue Jays plucked reliever Joel Payamps away from the Sox on a waiver claim.  Plawecki already cleared health protocols and returned to training with the team over a week ago.

COVID Notes: 3/6/21

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The latest on how the coronavirus is affecting Major League Baseball:

  • Max Fried has been cleared to return to spring training, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Fried had to go through additional protocols after being in close contact to a potential COVID-19 exposure. Having received the necessary number of negative tests, Fried can return to camp and get set to make his spring debut. As of right now, the expectation is that Fried will be ready for the start of the season. Fellow southpaw Sean Newcomb now faces a similar situation, however. He will step away from camp until being officially cleared, as was the case with Fried.

COVID Notes: Astros, Red Sox, Cordero

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Latest notes

  • Major League Baseball released its latest set of COVID-19 testing results this afternoon. Out of 13,718 monitoring tests conducted this week, five (all belonging to players) returned a positive result, marking a 0.04% positivity rate. None of the week’s 81 intake tests came back positive.

Earlier today

  • Health and safety protocols will keep eight Astros pitchers away from the team for the time being. Right-handers Bryan Abreu, Pedro Báez, Luis García, Cristian Javier, Francis Martes, Enoli Paredes and non-roster invitees Ronel Blanco and Hector Velázquez are all currently away from camp, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Those players’ placement on the COVID-19 list does not mean they have tested positive for the coronavirus; a player can enter health and safety protocols due to exposure to someone who tested positive. Indeed, general manager James Click rejected the notion the team was suffering an outbreak, pointing out (via Rome) that the COVID protocols “cast a wide net” in an attempt to reduce viral transmission. There are no current plans to pause team activities, Click says.
  • Franchy Cordero was delayed in reporting to spring training because of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, but he’s now in camp and taking an intake physical, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). If all goes well, Cordero could start team workouts today. The 26-year-old outfielder was a key part of Boston’s trade return for Andrew Benintendi.

COVID Notes: 3/4/21

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The latest on how the coronavirus is affecting Major League Baseball:

  • Braves left-hander Max Fried will not make his previously scheduled start Friday because he may have been exposed to COVID-19, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Fried has not tested positive, but manager Brian Snitker said (via David O’Brien of The Athletic) that he’ll “lay low” for a couple of days. At least for now, it doesn’t seem Fried will miss much time. As long as he recovers in short order, Fried could be the Opening Day starter for the Braves, having starred last season with a 2.25 ERA in 56 innings.

COVID Notes: Locastro, Happ

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The latest regarding the coronavirus:

  • Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Locastro tested positive for COVID-19, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Fortunately, Locastro is asymptomatic (per Piecoro), but he’ll still be out of action for at least the next ten days. The speedster rather quietly hit at a .290/.395/.460 clip with a pair of home runs over 82 plate appearances last season.
  • J.A. Happ reported to Twins camp yesterday after being sidelined nearly two weeks by a positive coronavirus test, notes Dan Hayes of the Athletic. The veteran southpaw expressed optimism he’ll build up strength in time to make his first scheduled start of the regular season, although he acknowledged his workload might be checked a bit early on. Happ experienced mild virus symptoms and still has yet to completely regain his sense of smell or taste, per Hayes.

Start Of Triple-A Season Delayed

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It was reported back in January that the Single-A and Double-A seasons would not start on time. The same goes for the minors’ highest level, as the 2021 Triple-A campaign will be delayed “by at least a month,” Jeff Passan of ESPN.com writes. It had been scheduled to begin April 6.

There was no minors season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the hope for this year is that they’ll be able to resume play sometime in May. As a result of the delay, alternate training sites will return this season and could last longer than expected, in part because of concerns over travel for minor leaguers, according to Passan. The alternate sites would feature about two dozen players, Passan adds.

Despite this setback, Passan writes that there’s hope the delay to the Triple-A slate will allow for the vaccination of players and a full season. The campaign will last into September if it opens in May.

COVID Notes: Abreu, Montas, Happ, Cordero

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The latest notes from MLB regarding COVID-19:

  • Reigning AL MVP José Abreu returned to team workouts yesterday (per Scott Merkin of MLB.com). The White Sox first baseman had been sidelined after testing positive for the coronavirus, which Abreu believes he contracted back in January. Abreu says he’ll need a few extra days to get his timing back after quarantining, so he probably won’t see any game action until the middle of next week.
  • Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas discussed his COVID diagnosis with reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com and Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News). Montas said he previously experienced headaches and body aches and continues to feel some tightness in his chest. Fortunately, he has progressed to running and throwing after being set back by those symptoms.
  • Twins left-hander J.A. Happ is feeling well after testing positive for the coronavirus during intake last weekend, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters yesterday (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). Happ still needs to clear testing protocols before returning to the field, and he’s expected to begin the screening process tomorrow, per Helfand.
  • New Red Sox outfielder Franchy Cordero tested positive for the virus and remains in the Dominican Republic, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Cordero was placed on the COVID-19 injured list last week, although it wasn’t known at the time whether that was due to a positive test or mere exposure. The hope is that Cordero will be able to join camp by the middle of next week, per Speier.

Covid Notes: Jose Abreu, Andrew Miller

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Major League Baseball announced last Friday that just 13 of the 4,336 tests performed during the first wave of Spring Training intake testing revealed positive Covid-19 results: nine players and four staff members spread across 11 big league teams. The broad-reaching hope, of course, is that the league and players will be able to navigate a full slate of games as successfully or more successfully than they did during last year’s 60-game sprint. A few updates of note on players who are or were delayed in their arrival to camp…

  • Reigning American League MVP Jose Abreu will be away from the White Sox for the time being due to a positive Covid-19 test, the team announced Wednesday. GM Rick Hahn told Daryl Van-Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters that Abreu is asymptomatic and “believes he contracted a mild case of the disease in January, which is reinforced by the presence of COVID antibodies in additional testing.” Abreu is expected to join the White Sox “in the not-too-distant future,” Hahn added. The 34-year-old Abreu posted a monstrous .317/.370/.611  slash with 19 home runs and 15 doubles while appearing in all 60 games during 2020’s shortened schedule.
  • Cardinals lefty Andrew Miller detailed his own recent bout with Covid-19 to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Miller wasn’t one of the 13 positive tests for the league, as he tested positive 10 days prior to the date on which Cardinals pitchers and catchers were set to report. His arrival was then further delayed by a few days, in accordance with league protocols. The 35-year-old quarantined in his house’s guest room, away from his wife and children, thankfully dealing with only mild symptoms (namely a loss of smell). Miller did acknowledge that he’s dealing with some fatigue now, though he believes it is “basically from being shut down” while isolating in that bedroom. “I thought I did a pretty good job of protecting myself,” said Miller. “The vaccine is right around the corner but I didn’t quite make it there.”

Shane Bieber Tests Positive For COVID-19

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FEB 20: Bieber has returned to camp as of this morning, reports a number of outlets including the Athletic’s Zack Meisel and Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Bieber is working out with the team.

FEB 18: Indians ace Shane Bieber recently tested positive for COVID-19, president of baseall operations Chris Antonetti told Mandy Bell of MLB.com and other reporters Thursday. Bieber had “very, very mild symptoms,” according to Antonetti, and the Indians are hopeful that the right-hander will join them in camp in the next few days.

There is, of course, no more valuable member of the Indians’ staff than Bieber, who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2020 and was likely the premier pitcher in the sport. The 25-year-old turned in an astounding 1.63 ERA/2.52 SIERA with a 41.1 percent strikeout rate, a 7.1 percent walk rate, and a 48.4 percent groundball mark over 77 1/3 innings.

Assuming he does return to health sometime soon, Bieber should take the ball for Cleveland on Opening Day. The club’s rotation has undergone changes this offseason with the trade of Carlos Carrasco to the Mets, but it still looks like a talented group with Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Triston McKenzie among those continuing to complement Bieber.

Pitching Notes: Mets, deGrom, Nationals, Ross, Twins, Happ, Cardinals, Hudson

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Mets ace Jacob deGrom likes the idea of spending his entire career with the Mets, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. Said the ace, “One thing I think that is really cool is whenever somebody spends their entire career with one team. You don’t see it happen a whole lot anymore, so it’s definitely something I have thought about and I guess we just have to see when that time comes.” DeGrom has an opt out after the 2022 season, which he could attempt to leverage into long-term security in New York. Otherwise, the Mets holds a $32.5MM team option for 2024, which would be deGrom’s age-36 season. Elsewhere in the National League…

  • The Nationals hope Joe Ross can unequivocally seize the fifth starter’s spot in their rotation, but manager Dave Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey are hesitant to declare the spot his after Ross sat out 2020, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Erick Fedde and Austin Voth could get into the starting mix if Ross isn’t quite ready to take a full workload from the jump. There’s no indication that the plans have changed much, however, as the Nats still plan on staying in-house to fill that role.
  • J.A. Happ tested positive for coronavirus upon his intake with the Twins, per the Athletic’s Dan Hayes (via Twitter). Happ is asymptomatic for now. Assuming he remains that way, Happ should still be ready in time for the start of the season. The Twins signed Happ to an $8MM deal in January, and the Twins expect him to hold down a spot in the middle of their rotation.
  • Dakota Hudson is at the Cardinals spring camp site in Jupiter, FL and ahead of schedule in his return from Tommy John surgery, per Zachary Silver of MLB.com (via Twitter). Hudson is scheduled to begin playing catch on March 15th. He is still more likely than not to miss the 2021 season after undergoing surgery late in September.

 

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