Indians’ Ramirez, Reyes violate COVID-19 protocols

CLEVELAND — For the third time in less than a year, the Cleveland Indians are having to isolate players because they broke COVID-19 protocols.

Third baseman Jose Ramirez and slugger Franmil Reyes are being kept away from their teammates at spring training in Arizona after they reported to the team that they went out to dinner in violation of team and Major League Baseball regulations.

Manager Terry Francona said Sunday that the two players were sent to their temporary homes as the Indians await word from the league as to when they can rejoin the team.

Francona said Reyes, who had a virus-related misstep last season, and Ramirez went out to dinner on Friday following an exhibition game in Mesa against the Chicago Cubs.

They reported to the team’s complex on Saturday and were immediately sent home. They did not have contact with any other players or team personnel.

“We’re pretty fortunate here,” Francona said on a Zoom call. “We have some medical people who are right on top of things, and they came right to me and they said: ‘Look, this is what we’re doing. We’re informing the league.’ The players themselves actually self-reported that they had made a mistake.

“So we told them: ‘This is not our rules. These are the rules that the players’ association and MLB came up with. We have to enforce them.’ ”

Francona said spoke to both players, and they they understood they could have put others in jeopardy.

“They were both upfront and honest with us about what happened,” Francona said. “We’re not trying to put guys in the penalty box. We try to talk to guys almost every day. ‘Hey, this is gonna happen if — it doesn’t matter if you agree with it or not. These are the protocols that are in place and you have to live by it.’ ”

This the second time Reyes has broken coronavirus protocols.

Pirates trade for Cubs’ Underwood

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired righthander Duane Underwood Jr. in a trade with the Chicago Cubs.

Underwood, 26, went 1-0 with a 5.66 ERA in 17 games with Chicago during the pandemic-shortened season. He was designated for assignment on Tuesday. A second-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft, Underwood is 1-1 with a 5.20 ERA in 30 career games.

The Cubs received minor league first baseman Shendrik Apostel in the deal. The 20-year-old Apostel was signed by the Pirates out of Curacao in July 2017.

Nationals release Jeffress suddenly

Righthander Jeremy Jeffress was released by the Washington Nationals for what general manager Mike Rizzo called unspecified “personnel reasons,” less than two weeks after the reliever agreed to terms on a minor league deal.

The 33-year-old Jeffress was taken by Milwaukee in the first round pick of the 2006 amateur draft and has pitched for five teams over 11 years in the majors. He was an NL All-Star in 2018 for the Brewers.

Last season, Jeffress went 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA and eight saves in 10 chances for the Chicago Cubs.