Major League Baseball is just five days into the 2020 season and the league already has its first coronavirus-related game cancellation following an outbreak within the Miami Marlins clubhouse.
Eight more players and two coaches tested positive for the virus Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the organization to at least 14. Subsequently, the Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles has been canceled, and the club remains in Philadelphia where they just finished up a series against the Phillies.
The Phillies are reportedly quarantining staff who worked in the visitors clubhouse this weekend, and the New York Yankees — who will use that clubhouse this week — are bringing their own staff with them to help minimize the chances of transmission. But infectious disease expert Dr. John Swartzburg, who didn't think the Marlins should have played this weekend, earlier told The Athletic that the Phillies should test their players, coaches, and employees, every two weeks.
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Ultimately, the Marlins outbreak leaves the team and the league in a precarious position. Every team has an expanded player pool to pull from this season in case of infections, but the outbreak has spread fast through the team, and the total number of infected personnel could still be higher, so it's possible the Marlins will be relying heavily on their minor leaguers going forward, if they play at all over the next couple of weeks. And if they can't, it's unclear how that would affect scheduling for teams that are supposed to play them.
Of course, the logistics are only secondary concerns compared to the health risk posed by the virus. Tim O'Donnell
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