Marlins’ Home Opener Canceled Due to COVID-19 Outbreak on Team

At least 14 members of Miami's team have tested positive for coronavirus

Marlins' Home Opener Canceled Due to COVID-19 Outbreak on Team
Jesus Aguilar of the Miami Marlins celebrates with Brian Anderson after hitting a home run. (Mitchell Leff/Getty)
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On Sunday, the Miami Marlins took the field against the Phillies in Philadelphia despite having three players learn earlier in the day that they’d tested positive for COVID-19, just two days after a fourth player learned of a positive test on Friday.

The decision to play the game despite the positive tests came after a team meeting that likely should have resulted in a different outcome if proper protocol was being followed.

“I think that by any definition, this is an outbreak on their team,” Dr. John Swartzburg, a clinical professor emeritus at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, Division of Infectious Disease, told The Athletic after the game. “And an outbreak on a team means that the team needs to close down. They’ve got 10 percent or more of their entire (traveling) group positive. That suggests that there’s a high probability that more people are going to end up testing positive.”

Swartzburg’s words were prophetic in multiple ways as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported early Monday that eight more Miami players and two coaches have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the team’s total number of positive cases to at least 14.

As the team remains in Philadelphia to undergo more testing, the Marlins’ home opener against the Baltimore Orioles tonight has been canceled.

In addition to the game being canceled and Miami’s series against Baltimore now being in doubt, the long-term ramifications for the rest of MLB and the 2020 season are not great. Expect further fallout from this situation as members the Phillies, who were supposed to host the Yankees tonight, undergo testing.

While those results come in, Yankees-Phillies has been canceled.

Also, keep an eye on the Reds as Cincinnati second baseman Mike Moustakas and center fielder Nick Senzel felt sick Sunday and did not play, a day after a teammate went on the injured list because he tested positive for COVID-19.

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