Major League Baseball on Tuesday suspended the season of the Miami Marlins through at least Sunday after 19 members of the team tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the organization’s website.
“Given the current circumstances, MLB believes that it is most prudent to allow the Marlins time to focus on providing care for their players and planning their baseball operations for a resumption early next week,” stated the MLB website.
The announcement comes just one day after the Marlins canceled their home opener, which was scheduled for Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles. It was canceled shortly after the number of players and coaches who were diagnosed with the virus jumped to 14.
Some of the Marlin players who have tested positive played in the team’s first three games in Philadelphia against the Phillies. The MLB postponed a three-game series between the Phillies and the New York Yankees that was scheduled to begin Tuesday night.
The MLB noted that no other clubs had members who tested positive for the virus in the week beginning Friday. In the week before that, four players and two staffers tested positive out of more than 10,000 samples, which is a positivity rate of 0.05%.
Under MLB guidelines for the coronavirus, the players who have received a positive test will be isolated from the team until they have two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, show no symptoms for 72 hours, and receive approval from team doctors.
This year’s baseball season, which began on July 23, was already shortened because of the pandemic. The usual 162-game scheduled was cut to a 60-game season that would take place in stadiums without fans.
