Astros optimistic season can be completed amid pandemic.
Despite positive COVID-19 tests, Astros players optimistic about upcoming season
The fate of his season lies in safety, so the Astros’ Alex Bregman is vigilant. For the second day in a row, he donned a black mask at Minute Maid Park. Yuli Gurriel did the same. Players are not required to wear masks while engaged in baseball activity.
“There’s multiple people at my position and we’re taking ground balls,” Bregman said. “I just wanted to try to be as safe as possible.”
During the team’s 10-minute infield drills Sunday afternoon, Bregman backhanded a grounder in foul territory. He made a circus throw across his body. The baseball did not reach Gurriel at first base. Teammates still serenaded him with Spanglish praise.
“I think how we’ve been going about it here and how great a job our staff has done here to make sure we feel safe and are doing the right thing, we’re following the guidelines; I am encouraged,” Bregman said. “I love baseball. I miss it dearly, and I can’t wait to get back on the field.
“I’m confident. I’m very optimistic. I think the guys know how serious this is (and) will take it serious and will do our part to ensure we can play the game we love.”
After three days of summer camp workouts, Bregman and many of his Astros teammates are cautiously optimistic the 60game season can be completed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Their adherence to the league’s health and safety protocols is apparent, save for a wayward spit.
More priority appears to lie in off-field responsibility than the preventative measures seen on the field. Shortstop Carlos Correa told his wife, Daniella, to cancel her hair and nail appointments for the next two months. The couple has decided to “stay (home) and focus on the baseball season.” It’s only two months, Correa told her.
“I’m encouraged because of the group of guys we have here,” Correa said. “We are all on the same page, and we know what it takes to make this season possi
ble. Pretty much what we’re doing is we come to work out, and we go back to our houses.
“I think if we can keep it simple: simple as come, get your work done and go home and get some rest, I think we’ll be fine and be able to carry on with the season.”
Interviews feature confidence, even if chaos still persists around the league. Test results are not arriving quickly and perhaps skewing some numbers released Friday. Nationals closer Sean Doolittle bemoaned a lack of personal protective equipment promised by the league.
Players reveal their positive cases each day. Though the league revealed Friday that 31 players tested positive, putting names to the news offers a more sobering perspective.
New York Yankees AllStar DJ LeMahieu’s diagnosis was shared Saturday. Atlanta Braves All-Star outfielder Freddie Freeman had the virus “hit him like a ton of bricks,” according to an Instagram post his wife, Chelsea, wrote the same day.
“I think it’s a wake-up call for everybody,” Bregman said. “And I think it goes to show it doesn’t matter who you are, you can be affected by this virus. We’ve done a good job of taking the necessary precautions here. There have been some positive cases across MLB, but I think we’re doing a really good job of doing the best we can staying at home, quarantining ourselves when we’re not at the ballpark, taking all the necessary health protocols day in and day out.”
On Friday, Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced 38 positive results of the 3,185 tests administered during intake screening. Thirtyone were players. Nineteen of the 30 teams had one player or staffer test positive.
“It was to be expected,” Correa said of the positive tests. “When you have thousands of players, somebody’s going to test positive. It’s impossible for no one to test positive for (COVID-19). It’s to be expected.
“Actually, the numbers were lower than what I expected. Speedy recovery to all those guys that have it — hopefully they get to play this year also — but the protocols that the team and the organizations have been taking, I think they’re great and they’re going to be able to work.”
The numbers exciting Correa seem somewhat misleading.
After the announcement, various clubs revealed some players who were still in stages of intake screening — the testing procedure all had to undergo upon reporting to summer camp. Ostensibly, their numbers were not included in the total. The Oakland A’s postponed their workout Sunday because the intake screening results weren’t complete.
On Sunday, Doolittle said he had not yet received results from his COVID-19 test administered Friday — the day most teams began their workouts. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado tweeted he’s in the same situation.
Both were tested again Sunday without their results from Friday. League protocol only calls for testing every other day, raising questions whether infected individuals can work out without their teammates knowing and spread the virus.
“In a perfect world, it would be every day,” Correa said. “But it’s up to us players for what we do when we leave the stadium. I feel if you go home, there’s going to be a really low chance that you contract (COVID-19), you know what I mean, especially if nobody in your house is going out either.”
In her Instagram post addressing her husband’s condition, Chelsea Freeman claimed her family was “really strict” for the last four months. They had not “gone to a grocery (store), haven’t gone out to dinner once, haven’t seen our friends and only allowed family at our house and we still got it.”
“These masks are very vital to how it works as well,” outfielder Josh Reddick said. “Whether we’re around each other or not, we still have a great possibility of getting this thing, as we’ve seen so far during this spring training 2.0 from players around the league.”
In the last two days, Reddick wore a mask while shagging fly balls. Neither he nor Bregman plans to wear one during games. Nor are they required to. Both will transform into homebodies after their workday ends. Will it be enough?
“It’s definitely going to be tough,” Reddick said of completing the season. “It’s definitely going to be a tough task.”