Astros cancel Monday workouts over delayed testing results.
Delay in receiving results causes anxiety for players like Maldonado
On Sunday morning, Martin Maldonado arrived at Minute Maid Park expecting a COVID-19 test. Part of Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocol mandates testing every other day for players and coaches. Maldonado was tested two days earlier. The results were still unavailable. Mentally, he was unsettled. Still, he reported to work.
Upon his entrance to the facility, Maldonado found no testing. He wondered why.
“They said because it was the Fourth of July weekend,” Maldonado said,“… and FedEx doesn’t work on the weekends.”
Frustration is apparent. Maldonado recounted the events on Twitter and in an interview with the Chronicle on Monday morning after the Astros canceled the day’s summer camp workouts at Minute Maid Park and the University of Houston. The club had to wait on its COVID-19 test results from the weekend, making Maldonado wonder if the 60-game season he’s trying to play is even viable.
“If it goes like the way we’ve started, I’d say no,” Maldonado said. “They have a lot of stuff that they have to improve for the safety of everybody. It’s just like I told the guys: It could be me that has this stuff. We don’t know. If we don’t get the results on time, I’m risking my family and players at the field. It could be anybody that has it, and we don’t know until we get the results back.”
Maldonado craves such solace. His son Aiden was born this past winter. His wife, Janelisse, battled kidney cancer in 2014. She’s “been fine after that,” Maldonado said
Monday, but her previous illness does leave her at higher risk for contracting COVID-19.
The lack of real-time test results leaves Maldonado anxious at all times. Is he near an asymptomatic teammate who is unknowingly carrying the virus? Could he acquire it and carry it home, possibly compromising his family’s health?
“Three days (in),” Maldonado said, “I’ve had some good days at the field and bad days at the field mentally wise.”
Aside from Yordan Alvarez, all of the Astros’ regular position players participated in Sunday afternoon’s workout at Minute Maid Park. Their last known COVID-19 test result prior to that workout was from either Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Maldonado.
In a lengthy statement released Monday afternoon, Major League Baseball acknowledged “unforeseen difficulties” with its holiday weekend testing. It also clarified the every-other-day testing timeline didn’t begin until Monday — something not stated in the league’s operations manual.
“Our plan required extensive delivery and shipping services, including proactive special accommodations to account for the holiday weekend,” the statement said. “The vast majority of those deliveries occurred without incident and allowed the protocols to function as planned. Unfortunately, several situations included unforeseen delays. We have addressed the delays caused by the holiday weekend and do not expect a recurrence. We commend the affected clubs that responded properly by canceling workouts.”
The league revealed that 98 percent of tests conducted at Intake Screening — when players reported to their home cities last week — have been processed and shared with teams.
The Astros received their delayed test results Monday afternoon and will resume their summer camp workouts at Minute Maid Park and UH on Tuesday.
“Bottom line, we believe in the testing,” Maldonado said. “I believe that the testing will clear your mind if you get the results back on time. I’d know the guy next to me is safe, you know what I mean? If I go home, I don’t want to infect my family. The results (are) going to give you a little mental peace.”
Maldonado made it clear his issue is not with the Astros or their implementation of the safety protocols. He praised head trainer Jeremiah Randall, who addressed some players Monday amid the chaos. Team personnel have been diligent in cleaning weights in the weight room, sanitizing the training tables after each use, and providing various pieces of personal protective equipment.
“Players and staff continue to participate fully in the screening and testing protocols while we await these (test) results,” general manager James Click said in a statement Monday. “Despite these delays over the holiday weekend, we’re optimistic that this process will be ironed out and we’ll be back on the field and ready to compete for a championship soon.”
Major League Baseball is sending all of its COVID-19 tests to The Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City — the same lab that handles some of its drug testing. According to its operations manual, the league maintains a goal of “ensuring expedited result reporting (approximately 24 hours) at all times.”
Before summer camp began, many wondered whether Major League Baseball would rue not testing on a daily basis. On Sunday, Houston shortstop Carlos Correa said “in a perfect world, it would be every day.” When Correa spoke, he’d gone two days without a test.
“Around the league, even coaches are concerned. Players are concerned,” said Maldonado, a nine-year veteran who has played for five major league teams. “This is something that has to be figured out before the season starts.
The Astros were tested Monday despite the cancellation of workouts, Maldonado said.
The Nationals canceled their scheduled workout Monday due to the testing lag time. Testers did not even show up to the Angels’ facility Sunday — so the team administered its own tests and mailed them to Utah, according to the Los Angeles Times. The A’s have yet to hold a fullsquad workout due to the testing issues.
“We know there are a lot of moving pieces as we work to return to the field, and players are committed to doing their part,” Astros union rep Lance McCullers Jr. said Monday. “We hope the testing results will be back today and the testing protocols will run more smoothly moving forward.”
Since summer camp began, Maldonado and his wife have discussed whether his playing the season is wise. Players are allowed to opt out, but only those labeled high-risk will receive full salary and service time. Individual clubs can decide how to compensate players who opt out due to a highrisk family member.
“She wants the best for us and the family,” Maldonado said. “But we’re around that point where we’re going to see how spring training looks going forward. So far, it’s not good.
“The risk is going to increase higher (during the season). You’re going to start traveling, and you don’t know the pilot of the plane, you don’t know the bus driver, you don’t know who is going to bring you your food in room service. If we can’t get this stuff down in spring training, where everyone is supposed to be in a bubble — we haven’t left the city — how is it going to be when the season starts?”