There was certainly a lot of intrigue surrounding Washington Nationals star shortstop Trea Turner early in Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Turner was removed from the game after scoring on a Josh Bell homer in the first inning. Initially, attention turned to the possibility that the veteran infielder might have been traded. We saw something similar happen earlier in the day ahead of a trade between the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros.
As news came out of Philadelphia, it became clear that Trea Turner had not been traded. Rather, he was removed from the game after testing positive for COVID-19.
It remains to be seen whether Turner was vaccinated at the time of his positive test. Regardless, this is a situation worth monitoring with Washington apparently in full-scale sell-off mode ahead of Friday’s MLB trade deadline.
Thus far this season, the 28-year-old Turner is hitting .320 with 18 homers and 49 RBI while boasting a .887 OPS and leading the league in total bases with 201. This could obviously play a role in whether the All-Star is traded.