Jeter: Marlins’ outbreak due to false sense of security
Miami Marlins executives tried to clear the air Monday about a teamwide coronavirus outbreak that jeopardized the Major League Baseball season mere days after it started.
And now — after 18 players and other team personnel tested positive for COVID-19, being forced to postpone seven games, starting second baseman Isan Diaz opting out of playing the rest of the season, and the team having to make over a dozen roster moves to try to patch together a competitive roster — the Marlins will begin playing games again starting Tuesday.
After a team and leaguewide review, Marlins CEO Derek Jeter and manager Don Mattingly did not assign blame on one activity, one player or one action for the outbreak — the whole traveling party assumed responsibility. But Jeter was emphatic that rumors of reckless behavior during the team’s trip to Atlanta for two exhibition games on July 24 and 25 were unequivocally false.
“After we left spring training and had numerous discussions, some of our traveling party had a false sense of security and comfort in how they handle themselves when they left Miami,” Jeter said.
“We did have a couple individuals leave the hotel [in Atlanta]. In our review, it was determined
we had guys leave to get coffee, get clothes. A guy left to have dinner at a teammates’ house.
“There were no other guests on site. There was no salacious activity. There was no hanging at bars. No clubs. No running around Atlanta. No running around the town. What it boiled down to on this particular trip was guys were around each other, they relaxed and let their guard down.”
The last game the Marlins played was July 26 in Philadelphia, an 11-6 win over the Phillies, just hours after the team learned of multiple positive tests that morning. The decision to play came jointly between the two organizations and MLB — all of whom were aware of the positive test results.
“I think there has been some reports or stories, people thinking that our players decided on their own to go out there and play on Sunday, that is not the case,” Jeter said. “There is not a particular organization or group of players that are allowed to make the decision on their own to go out on the field and play.”
Added Mattingly: “We felt like we were good in Miami, obviously doing really well, no positive tests after intake in a city that was one of the fastest growing at the time. We felt like we were doing the right thing. We felt like we were doing the right thing at the ballpark. And quite honestly, we probably weren’t doing it as good as we should have — we weren’t being as good as we should have. But I don’t think there was any recklessness to what we were doing.”
The day after the July 26 game, news flooded out of several more positive test results among players and traveling personnel. By the afternoon, that number had ballooned to 14 players and
“I hope people look at what happened to us and use that as a warning. Just see how quickly this is able to spread within a particular group if you’re not following protocols 100%. You can’t let your guard down whatsoever.”
— Marlins CEO Derek Jeter
personnel, and the team was shut down.
Since, players and coaches have spent time holed up in a Philadelphia hotel. The personnel who had tested positive were eventually sent down to Miami by bus, some with mild symptoms, some entirely asymptomatic — with the total number of players who tested positive at 18.
Despite leaguewide ripple effects that have postponed dozens of games already, the season has forged ahead. And as a result, the Marlins, who ironically sit just 1.5 games out of first place in the NL East, have had to furiously scramble to fill out a roster suddenly depleted by the virus.
“When you have to put 18 players on the injured list, it’s not something that you, never really expect you will have to experience,” said president of baseball operations Michael Hill. “In our jobs, we always plan for Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D — and that’s normally one player, two players at a time.”
Hill subsequently took nearly 50 seconds listing every transaction the team has made thus far, which have included call-ups from the 30-man squad in Jupiter, free-agent signings, waiver claims and players returning from the injured list.
They’ll all gather to play in Baltimore against the Orioles on Tuesday with multiple players on the roster whom Mattingly has only met via text. He knows Pablo Lopez, a familiar face, will start Tuesday. Elieser Hernández will start one of two doubleheader games Wednesday. Most everything beyond that is still up in the air, including when and how all seven games will be made up.
Jeter, Mattingly and Hill were all emphatic about the need to tighten and adhere to COVID-19 protocol, particularly as they continue traveling to different cities, with the next three series all on the road before returning home to face the Braves on Friday, Aug. 14.
Jeter said he expects those who tested positive for COVID-19 to eventually return to the team, though he did not offer a time frame for when they would do so, indicating that would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“I hope people look at what happened to us and use that as a warning,” Jeter said. “Just see how quickly this is able to spread within a particular group if you’re not following protocols 100%. You can’t let your guard down whatsoever.”