A’s Luzardo reportedly tests positive.
Luzardo’s positive COVID-19 test could have ripple effect on pitching rotation
The A’s may be looking at not having prized left-hander Jesús Luzardo with them for the start of the season after he reportedly tested positive for coronavirus.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Luzardo, who was the team’s only player who hadn’t been cleared to join the team for workouts, was informed he tested positive for COVID-19 and must self-isolate, as per baseball’s new health guidelines.
The A’s said “pending issues” prevented Luzardo and teammate Mike Fiers — who worked out together in Florida — from joining the team for Monday night’s impromptu workout. Fiers, though, was cleared to work out on Tuesday.
The A’s, citing HIPAA restrictions, said they were unable to confirm Luzardo’s reported diagnosis.
If Luzardo did test positive, protocol mandates that he test negative twice and receive clearance from the MLB/MLBPA joint committee before he can rejoin the team. Any more time Luzardo spends away from the mound could throw a wrench into the A’s rotation plans.
At least, it may force the A’s to get creative with tandems and piggybacking. If and when Luzardo clears testing protocol late into the three-week camp, he may not have time to ramp up to the 80-90 pitch range manager Bob Melvin expected the six possible starters to be at after the final exhibition games.
“We’ve had a little bit of a setback early
on, so we haven’t set anything at this point,” Melvin said on a virtual conference call with reporters prior to Tuesday’s workout. “To tell you the truth, we really have three or four guys I’d be really comfortable with. We’ll figure it out as we go along.”
Three days and one severe testing shipment backlog into a spring training reboot, the A’s — minus Luzardo — reunited at the Coliseum Monday night to begin full-squad workouts. All position players were cleared to start camp, finally.
Players were waiting “for hours” in the Coliseum parking lot on Monday as they awaited test results they took on Friday, Melvin said.
“Just the fact that everyone is back on the field again, these guys really support
each other, they really like each other.” he said. “It ended up being a really fun night. Everyone went home feeling pretty good about themselves.”
Anxiety about falling behind the curve due to the lag dissipated a bit once everyone took the field.
“Bob and I talked about this last night and this morning, and it feels incredibly urgent when you are not out here practicing,” general manager David Forst said in a call. “My hope is that a week from now, the position players are coming to us, saying, ‘We’re ready. When does the season start?’ ”
Luzardo’s reported positive test is the only known case out of the A’s camp, and Forst said the team is hoping to return to every-other-day testing from here on out.
Forst said the communication with MLB has been “outstanding,” despite some frustration within the organization over the unanticipated lag in test results.