» Some Astros players return home to train; others stay in Florida.
One group will train in Florida as another works out in Houston
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — While the coronavirus pandemic pauses their season, the Astros are splitting up between their spring training facility in West Palm Beach and Houston.
A group of major league players will remain in Florida to train while another will return to Houston and prepare for the upcoming season at Minute Maid Park. The Astros’ spring training facility will remain open for players who require injury rehabilitation or want to stay in Florida, but with a skeleton staff that could contain few — if any — major league coaches.
“Regardless of location, the groups of players will be working out together during this time,” Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said Sunday. “We are committed and will be ready whenever the time comes. We all miss baseball and hope it is back soon. We hope that everyone across Astros nation stays safe and healthy. We continue to thank Astros nation for their support, and we love you all.”
McCullers is among the group that will return to Houston and train at Minute Maid Park.
On Friday, players around the league were given three options: remain near their spring training facility, return to their hometown or return to their team’s home city. The situation has since evolved, resulting in a Sunday memo from Major League Baseball to all clubs that urged them to
“avoid all activities in which players congregate in significant numbers.”
Some teams have unanimously decided to remain together in spring training — the New York Yankees foremost among them. On Sunday, it was revealed a Yankees minor league player tested positive for COVID-19 — the sport’s first publicly known case. A club spokesman told reporters the player reported a fever Friday, was quarantined and had no contact with the major league club.
The Astros and Yankees did not meet during Grapefruit League play. General manager James Click said Sunday that, to his knowledge, no Astros player, coach or other personnel has been tested for COVID-19.
On Saturday, Astros minor leaguers were sent home. Sunday’s memo asked clubs to work and provide “suitable accommodations” to minor league players for whom returning home was not practical. Injured minor leaguers who require treatment from team medical personnel were allowed to remain near the spring training facility.
MLB “strongly recommended” all nonessential team personnel to return to their team’s home city — particularly those in a “higher risk category” for COVID-19. People over 60 are included in that category. The Astros employ the sport’s oldest manager (70year-old Dusty Baker) and pitching coach (71-year-old Brent Strom).
“Personally, I’m not afraid of any virus at this point in my life,” Baker said last week. “I’ve been through a stroke, been through prostate cancer. I refuse to let anything take the luster off of life for me.”