Polanco tests positive for virus
Pirates likely to call up outfielder to add depth
The Pirates again will be without Gregory Polanco for an undetermined period of time, although this is a little different than the previous problems that have kept the right fielder out of the lineup.
What Polanco apparently did also drew praise from manager Derek Shelton, pitcher Joe Musgrove and more of his teammates, who said the outfielder speaking up and saying that he didn’t feel quite right might have spared the team some sort of outbreak.
Shelton announced Friday that Polanco, who had missed the previous three days of workouts, had tested positive for COVID-19 and had granted the Pirates permission to disclose that information. The manager was not able to say when Polanco tested positive.
“The protocol worked, and I cannot speak highly enough about how Gregory went about it,” Shelton said. “He protected his teammates because he put himself in a conversation where you let us know through the protocols and the testing. He was not around anybody else. And because of that, with getting a test and finding out that he was positive, I think it speaks to the testament of everything that we’ve talked about of how good a teammate he is.”
It’s at least the third positive test the Pirates have had for COVID-19 after reliever Blake Cederlind and outfielder Socrates Brito also granted Pittsburgh permission to announce results. Brito has since returned to on-field action, while Cederlind has not.
The Pirates also are missing third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and closer Keone Kela, the latter of which they placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday night. No reason has been given for either missing the entirety of summer camp thus far.
Without Polanco, Guillermo Heredia likely slides into a starting role in right field, at least for now. Shelton said he and general manager Ben Cherington were scheduled to talk Friday afternoon, and the manager expected to call up another outfielder from Altoona for depth.
Although opening day is a week away and Polanco must pass multiple tests in order to return, Shelton said it’s too early to speculate about his availability for that game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
“We don’t want to make that assumption until we get to the day before St Louis and we know what our roster is going to look like,” Shelton said.
Shelton said he talked to Polanco recently and said the outfielder was in good spirits and eager to make his test results available.
“He’s doing well,” Shelton said. “I talked to him earlier when we talked to him about consent, and he’s upbeat.
“Again, you know, unbelievable teammate, and was very, very happy to talk about it with Ben and I about being able to discuss it as a group. And so he’s doing fine.”
Shelton seemed to say Polanco was not around others, although if they find out that he was, those players likely would be tested, too.
Pirates players, same as around the league, are typically tested every other day. Per usual, Shelton was unable to say whether Polanco was symptomatic, meaning there’s no way to get a sense for whether the symptoms have lessened.
In addition to testing negative twice for COVID-19, Shelton said Polanco — and anybody else dealing with this — must have an EKG and a physical before they’re allowed to come back.
How crazy is it that Polanco of all people tested positive? Earlier Friday MLB announced that 10,548 samples were collected in the past week. Only six (or 0.05%) came back positive.
Polanco had looked very good thus far in 2020, drawing rave reviews for his compact swing, improved throwing and aggressive baserunning.
He has looked every bit like the guy who had 22 home runs and 86 RBIs in 2016 and 23 homers and 81 RBIs two years later, not the one who played just 42 games because of shoulder issues in 2019, hitting .242 and striking out a ton.
“I worked so hard, and I’m feeling good now,” Polanco said last week.
Polanco’s effort to say something early did not go unnoticed by his teammates, who appreciated him not trying to be a hero and power through workouts, pretending like he just had a cold.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Polanco,” Musgrove said. “I know when he initially pulled himself out of the work that he wasn’t feeling sick at all. He didn’t feel many symptoms. He said his throat was a little bit scratchy, but on any other day, he would normally just come to the park and would have been fine. He was really cautious about it and really smart and decided to pull himself out of the workout. He ended up saving a good amount of people from having to miss time.”