MLB boss says sport can finish its season

NEW YORK — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he’s confident his sport can get through the regular season and postseason without being stopped by the coronavirus, though not every team might play all 60 games and winning percentage could be used to determine playoff teams.

During an interview Saturday with The Associated Press, Manfred said Major

League Baseball knows which player introduced covid-19 into the clubhouse of the Marlins Marlins. Miami and Philadelphia both postponed games for an entire week.

“I think that if everybody does what they are supposed to do, we can continue to play, have a credible season and get through the postseason,” Manfred said.

Just 11/2 weeks into a pandemic-delayed regular season shortened from 162 games per team to 60, the coronavirus has forced 19 postponements in 11 days, including St. Louis’ threegame weekend series at Milwaukee.

The virus also prompted at least two more players to opt out Saturday: Brewers All-Star outfielder Lorenzo Cain and Miami second baseman Isan Diaz.

At least 18 Marlins players have been infected along with two St. Louis Cardinals.

Manfred had what he said was a constructive conversation Friday with union head Tony Clark, and expects stepped-up efforts by players and teams to adhere to special virus protocols put in place by MLB and the players’ association.

“It is what the public health experts have been saying from the beginning about this, that there is no one big magic fix,” Manfred said.

“The protocols are a series of little things that people need to do. We’ve had some problems. In order to be better, it’s another series of little things. I think it’s peer pressure. I think it’s players taking personal responsibility. I think it’s the union helping us like Tony Clark helped us yesterday. And I think it’s us managing more aggressively,” he said.

Still, he does expect more issues. “I don’t think it’s realistic to think that we’re not going to have any more positive tests,” Manfred said. “We’re going to be fluid. We think it’s manageable and we’re going to continue to try to manage it.”

Miami, which last played July 26 at Philadelphia, was set to resume its schedule Tuesday at Baltimore. The Phillies are due back Monday at Yankee Stadium.

“Once you have somebody who starts producing the virus, what seemed like harmless protocol code violations become serious issues,” Manfred said.

Toronto missed its weekend series against the Phillies. Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker was against a bubble-environment such as the NBA and MLS are using and understood Manfred’s urging of stricter adherence.

“I don’t take Rob’s comments as a personal attack at all because I know we are doing better and some teams might not be, so hopefully they do better,” Shoemaker said. “If guys are going out to clubs or bars, that is irresponsible to say the least, if that’s what happened. We have guys not doing that, which is great from a team standpoint. We want to play baseball.”

The entire Cardinals-Brewers series at Miller Park was scrapped. After two St. Louis players tested positive, the whole Cardinals team was given rapids tests Friday and saliva samples were sent to an MLB laboratory that indicated a third player and multiple staff members may be positive.

In addition, the Cardinals will play four games at Detroit from Tuesday through Thursday, including a doubleheader Wednesday, rather than two games at Comerica Park followed by two at Busch Stadium. MLB said the changes were due to additional testing and monitoring of the Cardinals.

MLB-mandated monitors have been accompanying teams on the road since Wednesday in an effort to cause stricter adherence to the protocols.

“I think it’s a top-down thing,” Yankees pitcher James Paxton said. “I think that if your leadership is showing how important it is and you’ve got the front office like we have here taking it very seriously, I think that then that’ll trickle down to the players taking it seriously.”

Given all the schedule changes, MLB is considering whether active rosters should remain at 30 rather than decrease to 28 on Thursday, as scheduled. No decision has been made.

“This is kind of a day-to-day thing right now,” Manfred said. “You’ve just got to get up in the morning and figure out a way to keep going through another day to stay safe for people.”