Five Washington Nationals players will miss Thursday’s opening game after one player tested positive for COVID-19.
Mike Rizzo, the general manager of the Washington, D.C., Major League Baseball team, said Wednesday that one player who tested positive on Monday and four others who had close contact with him will miss the team’s first game, the Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reported. One staff member will also quarantine after reportedly being exposed to the group, Rizzo reportedly told ESPN journalist Karl Ravech.
The positive COVID test is a player. Those 5 other people in close contact will be put into the league’s quarantine protocol. https://t.co/gsIIFS8RdW
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) March 31, 2021
Mike Rizzo confirms one player has tested positive for Covid and there are 5 others in protocol as close contacts. 4 players and 1 staff member. This from a March 29th test.
— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) March 31, 2021
During the spring training season, 33 players tested positive for COVID-19, and the MLB said two players and two staff members tested positive last week among 13,978 tests conducted as part of the league’s weekly monitoring.
BIDEN WON’T THROW OUT FIRST PITCH AT NATIONALS OPENING DAY
During the 2020 season, the Nationals were slated to open the 60-game, pandemic-shortened season on July 23 against the New York Yankees. Hours before that game, the club announced star outfielder Juan Soto tested positive. Now, the 2019 World Series champions will open the 2021 season without a handful of players when they face off against the New York Mets on Thursday.
On Monday, the league announced social distancing protocols would be relaxed for teams that reach 85% vaccination rate among tier-one staff. Clubs that reach the threshold can drop mask use from dugouts and bullpens and eliminate their electronic tracing devices, according to a memo circulated to players and staff.
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The MLB announced several health protocols in an effort to reduce the disease’s transmission ahead of the start of spring training, including creating a joint COVID-19 health and safety committee composed of one MLB and MLB Players Association representative and two physicians, team-specific COVID-19 action plans, and frequent testing, among other provisions.
Representatives for the MLB and the Nationals did not immediately reply to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
