On Monday, stunning news broke that the Miami Marlins are dealing with a significant COVID-19 outbreak and had to cancel their home opener. Responding to this, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Lindblom made it clear that the MLB has an obligation to ensure safety for players and other team personnel.
Per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lindblom said, “Somebody might have to make a hard decision.”
Lindblom also says he expects to play Monday night but made it clear he’s not exactly comfortable with the situation.
It’s not hard to imagine that many other MLB players have similar thoughts and feelings.
Yankees vs. Phillies game Monday canceled
In the wake of the Marlins situation, the Philadelphia Phillies will not host the New York Yankees on Monday. Philly played against Miami over the weekend, playing three games between Friday and Sunday.
The big issue is that Philadelphia and Miami played Sunday even after knowing that four Marlins players tested positive for COVID-19. Then on Monday morning, shocking news broke that eight more players and two coaches on Miami’s side also tested positive.
Needless to say, everyone who was in close contact — players, coaches, team staff, etc. — could have contracted the novel coronavirus.
Will the 2020 MLB season be able to survive?
The league is reportedly set to convene an emergency meeting in the wake of this Marlins outbreak.
Many are already concerned that the 2020 MLB season is doomed. That remains to be seen. What we know for sure is that MLB really doesn’t have a concrete plan at this time to deal with this issue.
Clearly, things aren’t going the way that MLB hoped, with a major problem just days into the 2020 season. The real question that has to be asked is: How many cases is too much?