Test result delays put a hold on reporting
Melvin: ‘It’s going to be last-minute stuff all the time’
The Oakland A’s were supposed to have a full squad report to summer camp at the Coliseum by Sunday afternoon, but because of a delay in processing their coronavirus tests most of the A’s position players may not be able to start workouts until today.
A majority of the 42 players due to report to the Coliseum underwent intake testing Friday. Their tests, though, were sitting in boxes on a plane in San Francisco on Sunday night, yet to take off for Salt Lake City, a source told this news organization. Major League Baseball has converted a portion of its performance enhancing drug laboratory in Utah into a COVID-19 testing lab.
The initial holdup was due to the Fourth of July on Saturday and extended when the delivery did not go out on Sunday, either. The tests were expected to be shipped out early Monday morning, which means players could report today. There’s a slight chance the rest of the A’s could report on Monday evening.
The A’s didn’t know until Sunday evening that the samples were still grounded in California.
“It’s going to be last-minute stuff all the time,” manager Bob Melvin said on Sunday following news of the first delay.
“We all know that being flexible and adjusting to the unknowns is going to be part of everything we do this season,” general manager David Forst said in a text to reporters following the first delay. “Our players and staff have
done an excellent job getting to this point and they understand that we will get them on the field as soon as we possibly can.”
The second delay inspired A’s reliever Jake Diekman, who is considered at risk with ulcerative colitis, to send a frustrated tweet in response:
“Amazon packages can be delivered literally 7 days a week but results for Covid testing not so much. @MLB thoughts?”
Slow intake testing was a point of conversation around the league when former A’s closer Sean Doolittle spoke to media members Sunday. The Washington Nationals reliever took a coronavirus test on Friday, and hadn’t heard back about his results.
“We’ve got to clean that up, right?” Doolittle asked reporters.
Testers didn’t show up to the Los Angeles Angels’ and two other teams’ training sites on Sunday, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
Major League Baseball released a statement on Friday reporting a 1.2% positive rate in its first round of COVID-19 test results. The survey took into account 3,185 samples from players, coaches and staff around the league. Per MLB protocol, players will be tested every other day with results expected to be returned 24-48 hours after.
Without these foul ups, players would be due for another round of testing on Sunday.
The A’s aren’t the only team struggling through lagging test results, but the impact could be dire. Any days lost during this truncated spring training redux is magnified in the competitive disadvantage it might provide during a short season, when getting off to a strong start is imperative to a team’s success. Every batting practice session is essential.
“It feels like we’re five days behind with our position players right now. That’s not really the case, but it feels like it,” Melvin said when asked if he hopes to see his whole team on
Monday.
A small group of A’s pitchers and catchers — including three of the five projected to be in the starting rotation and most of the relievers, based on workouts held Saturday and Sunday — as well as the coaching staff have already reported to camp.
Schedule notes
The first series will be a four-game set against the Angels at the Coliseum, starting on Friday, July 24. Opening day first pitch is at 7:10 p.m. The Colorado Rockies follow for a two-game series at the Coliseum, a day game and a night game.
Something new: After that 7:10 p.m. opener, all night home games will start at 6:10 p.m. or 6:40 p.m.
The A’s first trip will be to Seattle on July 30 to play a four-game series against the Mariners.
Remember the Houston Astros? Feels like ages ago that the A’s AL West foes were enduring rapid-fire heat regarding their exposed cheating methods in previous seasons — exposed by former Astro and current Athletic Mike Fiers. Fiers and the A’s will play the Houston Astros 10 times. Just one three-game series between the two teams will be at Minute Maid Park from Aug. 28-30. The other seven will be played in Oakland.