The first few weeks of the MLB season have gone swimmingly for the Cleveland Guardians and the rest of the league when it comes to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For MLB, this is a breath of fresh air after the past two seasons were defined by the pandemic. Unfortunately, MLB has now been hit by its first COVID-related postponement of the season.
MLB announced on Wednesday that the Guardians game against the division-rival White Sox in Chicago slated for later in the day has been postponed due to multiple positive COVID tests within the Guardians’ organization.
“Following multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the Cleveland Guardians organization, their afternoon road game today vs. the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field has been postponed to allow for continued testing and contract tracing. Major League Baseball will provide a rescheduling update when it becomes available.
MLB on Cleveland Guardians-Chicago White Sox postponement
It’s not yet known who might have tested positive, but it seems to be a pretty widespread outbreak within the Guardians’ organization.
MLB in the era of COVID-19
This was a widespread issue for MLB during the truncated 60-game 2020 regular season at the height of the pandemic. It also came into play during the 2021 campaign.
The hope here is that with more players vaccinated from the virus and changes to the league’s protocols, postponements wouldn’t be widespread. Up until now, that has been the case.
One postponement doesn’t change the fact that things are going better in this regard. However, the Cleveland Guardians, Chicago White Sox and the rest of MLB will be playing defense against the virus like the rest of the world.
For what it’s worth, the United States registered 93,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours at the time of this publication.