Baker admits some still ‘uncomfortable’ with playing
On the day Buster Posey joined the growing group of players who’ve opted out of the 2020 regular season, Astros manager Dusty Baker acknowledged that some players still feel “uncomfortable” playing baseball amid a pandemic.
Posey revealed his decision Friday morning, citing the recent premature birth of identical twin girls he and his wife are adopting. The former National League Most Valuable Player and six-time All-Star is arguably the highest-profile player to withdraw from the 2020 season.
Including Posey, 11 players have publicly stated their intentions not to play in 2020. Almost all are veterans who’ve accrued ample service time and salary. Dodgers starter David Price, Nationals outfielder Ryan Zimmerman and Rockies infielder Ian Desmond are among those opting out.
Publicly, no Astros have decided to opt out. Baker was asked Friday how it felt to have all of his players on board with playing.
“Well, I mean it makes you feel good, (but) you’re not really confident yet that it might not happen here or whatever happens in the future,” Baker said. “You don’t know, but so far, so good. There are still some players that feel uncomfortable in this situation, and they should, for various reasons.”
Reliever Joe Smith is not in summer camp because of “health and safety concerns for his family,” but his long-term intentions are not known. Catcher Martin Maldonado, whose wife is a cancer survivor, said the couple will keep discussing his situation as workouts move forward.
13 more test positive around the league
Thirteen major league players have tested positive for COVID-19 since summer camp workouts began last week, according to data released by Major League Baseball and the Players Association on Friday.
Friday’s joint statement presented two sets of results — a complete list of numbers from intake screening and the initial numbers from the first week of monitored testing.
All players and other on-field personnel covered by the testing protocol were required to undergo intake screening earlier this month when they arrived in their home cities. Of the 3,748 tests administered, 66 were positive. Fifty-eight of the 66 were players. All but three teams had at least one individual test positive.
After intake screening was completed, all players and onfield personnel moved to a routine of testing every other day — what the league calls “monitoring testing.” Through the end of Thursday, 17 of the 7,401 tests were new positives. Thirteen were players. Ten of 30 teams have had at least one individual test positive during monitoring screening.
Combining both sets of data, the league has 83 positives of the 11,149 total samples since starting its intake screening process June 27.
Concern persists about the delay in reporting test results to teams. The Astros, Nationals and Cardinals canceled their Monday workouts after not getting their results in a timely manner. Houston third baseman Alex Bregman missed Wednesday’s workout, too, after a delay in his test results.