As many as 17 members of the Miami Marlins, including 15 players, have now tested positive for the coronavirus, according to CBS Sports. In an effort to minimize disruption to the season while containing the outbreak, MLB has revised the team’s schedule to isolate the Marlins and Phillies for a period of time.
“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,” MLB said in a statement.
So it is official – Miami’s next six games, including Tuesday’s matchup versus the Baltimore Orioles, have been officially postponed. Additionally, the Yankees game at Philadelphia Tuesday evening and the Phillies’ games in the Bronx on Wednesday and Thursday were postponed “out of an abundance of caution.”
Instead, the Yankees will play the Orioles at Camden Yards on Wednesday and Thursday “to create more scheduling flexibility later in the season,” MLB said.
BREAKING: The Miami Marlins' schedule has been postponed through Sunday after 15 players tested positive for the coronavirus. July 28, 2020
The league has conducted over 6,400 coronavirus tests over the past four days, and there have been no new positive results among on-field personnel from the other 29 teams besides the Marlins. “This outcome is in line with encouraging overall data since the June 27th start of testing,” MLB stated. “Through last Thursday, 99 of the 32,640 samples (0.3 percent) had been positive.”
In a statement, Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said the team is “having a difficult time enduring this experience” while isolating and quarantining in Philadelphia. Jeter added that the team has “moved to a daily testing schedule” and enacted “additional preventive procedures with our traveling party.”
The return of professional sports couldn’t have come at a worse time as cases in the United States continue to rise, with more than 4 million confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And over the weekend, Florida became the state with the second-highest official coronavirus case count, surpassing New York.
