Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees game postponed after multiple Yankees test positive for COVID-19

he Yankees’ post-All-Star break opener against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night was postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests among New York pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta.

Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka and Gio Urshela are also in COVID-19 protocols, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said earlier Thursday that tests for three players were still pending, but he did not name them. He said he assumes the tests will come back positive.

All the Red Sox All-Stars who were in Denver have been asked to undergo additional testing on Thursday because they were told a Yankees All-Star had tested positive, sources told ESPN’s Marly Rivera.

Judge, Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman all participated in the All-Star festivities this week.

“It’s a fluid situation that could spread. It has spread to some degree,” Cashman said. “We have three positives and we have three pending that we’ve had rapid tests on. ... We’ll wait now for the lab tests to come back, which I’m assuming is going to be positive, as well. So that would increase our number to six, but we’re not at six yet. We’re at three confirmed.’‘

Padres players Fernando Tatis Jr., Wil Myers test positive for COVID-19, at least 3 other players out for contact tracing

The San Diego Padres announced a roster move on Tuesday before their game in Colorado due to “health and safety protocols.” And later during the game, two players were removed.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that star shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr. along with Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo all were placed on the injured list.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler announced that Tatis Jr. had tested positive for COVID-19 saying he was currently asymptomatic. Profar and Mateo were both close contacts.

During Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, players Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer were removed and it was later confirmed by Tingler that Myers tested positive for COVID-19 and Hosmer was removed for contact tracing.

No additional details were available and no timetable was given for when any of the players may be available to return to action.

New York Yankees 3B coach Phil Nevin, 1B coach Reggie Willits positive for COVID-19

New York Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin and first-base coach Reggie Willits have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team said Tuesday.

Nevin’s status was announced before Tuesday night’s road game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Willits’ positive case and that of a staff member were confirmed after the Yankees’ 3-1 win. Manager Aaron Boone also said the team is waiting for more results.

Two additional cases are considered inconclusive but are expected to be ruled as positives, a source told ESPN, which would bring to five the number of coaches and support staff members who are positive. ESPN earlier reported that there were five positive cases among the coaching staff.

“We’re doing all we can to stay healthy. A little bit of a skeleton staff but nothing we can’t handle,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game.

A team spokesman said Nevin, Willits and the staff member are fully vaccinated.

These 25 Players Opted Out Of MLB In 2020. How Are They Doing In 2021?

Obviously, all of these trends come with the usual small-sample caveats for early-season baseball stats. But on average, the opt-out players are playing more2 than they did in 2019 and producing more value3 (with an average of 1.5 wins above replacement4 per 162 games, compared with 1.0 in 2019). Some of that is skewed by Michael Kopech, who missed all of the 2019 season with Tommy John surgery. But even without including Kopech, the average 2020 opt-out has seen his WAR per 162 essentially stay steady from 2019 (1.1) to 2021 (1.3). We don’t know if rust will eventually set in, but it hasn’t yet, by and large.

Of course, some have struggled early in their returns. Most notably, that group includes a quartet of pitchers (Shelby Miller, Collin McHugh, David Price and Joe Smith) and Brewers outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who was hitting just .154 before going to the injured list with a strained quad. But others have returned from the year away with few signs of deteriorating skills.

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman struggled to an uncharacteristically poor season (90 OPS+) even as Washington was winning the World Series in 2019. This year, he is hitting much more like his old self (129 OPS+). The same goes for Giants catcher Buster Posey, who had the worst full season of his career in 2019 but is currently playing at his best WAR-per-162 pace since 2017. The year of rest appears to have helped Posey recover from a hip injury that ended his 2018 season and affected his performance even a year later.,

Washington Nationals put 10 on IL ahead of COVID-delayed season opener

The Washington Nationals finally will open their season Tuesday, but they will do so with a patchwork roster due to COVID-19 issues.

The Nats announced that starting pitchers Patrick Corbin and Jon Lester, catchers Yan Gomes and Alex Avila, first baseman Josh Bell, infielders Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer, left fielder Kyle Schwarber and reliever Brad Hand have all been placed on the injured list, though none with a specified injury.

A coronavirus outbreak has sidelined 11 players, four of whom tested positive for COVID-19, though the team has not revealed which players tested positive and which are in protocols.

With so many players out, the Nationals recalled seven players, including shortstop Carter Kieboom, to the 26-man roster and signed 34-year-old catcher Jonathan Lucroy to a contract as part of a flurry of personnel moves.

Brad Wilkerson would listen if the Nationals called.

Texas Rangers sell over 38,000 tickets to home opener, marking one of the first full-capacity sporting events in a year

The paid attendance at Monday’s game was 38,238, a figure which Rangers spokesperson John Blake described as a sellout. The stadium’s overall capacity is 40,518, according to Blake.
The Rangers are the only Major League Baseball team allowing full capacity seating at their ballpark, thanks in part to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doing away with mask restrictions last month and allowing businesses to open at 100% capacity.

“It felt like it was my debut all over again. It was a good feeling to just have the crowd there cheering us on,” said Rangers infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. “I think the introduction when I first came out early in the game, that was probably one of the coolest moments of my career to this date.”
Rangers manager Chris Woodward said Monday felt like “a real game” and that it “resembled some sort of normalcy.”

“We were excited, man. We haven’t played in front of any crowd. We played a little bit in Kansas City, a little bit in spring training, but full capacity, it’s amazing how quickly we get used to certain things and not having that, was ‘Oh, this is what it felt like,’” Woodward said.

On eve of openers, Manfred hopes full capacity by midsummer

“I hope by midsummer that we have ballparks that are unrestricted and we have full fan access,” Manfred said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press.

Last year’s shortened regular season was played entirely without fans, who were allowed back only for the NL Championship Series and World Series, and then in limited numbers for games moved to a neutral site in Arlington, Texas.

“For most clubs, this will be another year of significant losses. It’s not going to be the $2.5 to $3 billion that we had last year, but there will be significant losses if we continue in the mode where we don’t have full fans,” Manfred said. “The clubs have done a great job of working with financial institutions they had relationships with in terms of assuring liquidity.”...

He thinks fans long to return to ballparks.

“I see this season as a huge opportunity for baseball,” he said. “We’re an outdoor sport. I think it’s safe or safer to go to outdoor activities. Everybody seems to agree on that. And I think that there’s pent-up demand for entertainment products, and we’re going to do everything we possibly can to take the best opportunity to take advantage of that.”

Five Nationals players will miss opening day after a COVID-19 positive

Despite a relatively healthy six weeks of spring training and a far smoother ride in testing for and tracing cases of COVID-19, the 2021 Major League Baseball season will begin as the last one did – with a Washington Nationals player sidelined by a positive test for their nationally televised opener.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo announced Wednesday that a player tested positive and will miss Thursday’s opener, as will four other players who must quarantine after they were identified as close contacts with the player.

Additionally, a staff member was also in the close contact group.

The positive tests comes after a spring in which just 33 players tested positive through both intake and monitoring testing; two players and two staff members among MLB’s 30 teams tested positive in the most recent report issued by MLB.

Major League Baseball relaxing COVID-19 protocols for fully vaccinated players, staff

Among the new and relaxed protocols:

► Players and staff members who are vaccinated no longer are required to wear masks in gatherings in hotel rooms and other indoor spaces with other fully vaccinated individuals but still must wear masks in the clubhouse and training room. Masks are not mandated in the dugout, bullpen or weight room.

► Family and household members who are vaccinated, including non-vaccinated children, are now permitted to stay with them in their hotel rooms on the road. Players also no longer are required to notified their club compliance officer when leaving the hotel

► Vaccinated individuals now have the option to decrease testing to twice a week using saliva tests.

► Fully vaccinated individuals who have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 no longer need to quarantine unless they have symptoms.

► Fully vaccinated individuals can carpool or use ride-sharing services to and from club facilities.

► Card playing is back on planes and buses as long as no unvaccinated individuals are within two rows of the fully vaccinated people.

► Vaccinated individuals can meet outdoors with anyone instead of just household or family members.

► Vaccinated players and staff members also are permitted to appear at in-person sponsorship or marketing events, provided that the event’s health and safety protocols are approved by the club.

► They also may now attend indoor religious services, although outdoor serves still are recommended.

► Family members and guests of players and staff are no longer required to sit in pods at games, and can mingle with other spectators.

Two Texas Rangers employees on what Opening Day at full capacity will be like

Both employees who spoke to The News are hoping for the best while bracing for the worst. They asked for no identifying information other than their roles, a request the Daily News granted because they fear retribution from the team.

“Depending on how uncooperative customers are being, you may have to get police involved,” said a veteran front-office staffer of the upcoming season. “It’s that risk assessment in your brain. And a lot of times, it’s not going to come down on the side of public safety if you’re trying to keep your people from physical harm,” they said.

Many of their colleagues — especially the senior citizens stationed around Globe Life’s escalators and vessels — were hired as greeters, but he believes they are being positioned to manage conflict like bouncers.

“At least down here, most of them are older age…they’re working games so they can have something to do, and so they can get out and socialize,” they said, comparing them to Wal-Mart staffers. “It’s not an adversarial position. That’s not why they are doing this.”

“I know exactly how it’s gonna go,” said another Globe Life Field staffer, this one in a customer-facing role. “People already weren’t wearing masks.”

Doesn’t help that their ad shows a fan taking his mask off!

Cardboard is out. Humans are in.

Single game tickets go on sale next week! pic.twitter.com/aYIvaKR2Uv

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 15, 2021

Baseball scouts return to the ballpark after COVID-19 pandemic decimates industry

On the one-year anniversary after being sent home when baseball closed its doors with the COVID-19 pandemic, and being prohibited from scouting at Major League ballparks during the truncated 60-game season, they are back.

“It’s been tough, very tough,’’ said Kansas City Royals scout Jim Fregosi Jr., “emotionally and mentally. When you’re a scout, and with all of the weird hours we keep, your friends are limited. Your closest friends are scouts and others in baseball. There’s not too many of us that know how to do anything else.

“This is our livelihood, and there’s a fear there won’t be many scouts out there anymore, so being back is very emotional.’’

The scouting industry has drastically shrunk in the last year, with about 20% of professional scouts laid off since the start of the pandemic. There still are 13 teams who don’t plan to scout Major League Baseball games in person this year, even at the Class AA and Triple-A level. The guidelines distributed by MLB to clubs this week, and obtained by USA TODAY Sports, prohibit more than one scout per team at games this year, and are providing only a minimum if six scout seats behind home plate.

“It’s brutal, we feel like we’re on an island anyways, but it’s so tough to see,’’ said former major league outfielder Mitch Webster, a scout with the Royals.

“You’re still hearing about some clubs having layoffs and pay cuts even with the fans coming back.’’

Texas Rangers to allow full capacity on opening day

The Texas Rangers will be the first major professional team in North America to allow 100 percent capacity at a game when they play their home opener April 5 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In a statement, the Rangers cited Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order permitting the state’s businesses to open fully in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Globe Life Field, which seats 40,518 fans, opened last season, but has never been allowed to have fans for a Rangers game. Major League Baseball allowed about 11,500 fans into the stadium for National League Championship Series and World Series games played at the ballpark last postseason.

The Rangers’ Globe Life Field can hold 40,518 fans.

TD Garden, Fenway Park Can Open At 12% Capacity For Fans Starting March 22

Governor Charlie Baker announced Thursday that fans will be allowed at Massachusetts stadiums and arenas beginning March 22.

Starting March 1, Massachusetts will move back into Phase 3, Step 2 of its reopening plan, then on March 22 to Step 4, Phase 1. That is when stadiums will be allowed to have crowds with a capacity restriction of 12%.

“These large venues employ a lot of people and many of them have been out of work for a very long time,” Baker said. “We’ve been watching how these venues perform in other states, and believe with the right safety measures in place they can operate responsibly and safely here in the Commonwealth as well.”

The Bruins would be the first team eligible to host fans with a home game scheduled against the New York Islanders on March 23. The Celtics’ first home game with fans could be March 29, while Red Sox opening day is scheduled for April 1.

Jose Abreu, the reigning AL MVP, tests positive for COVID-19, keeping him away from Chicago White Sox spring training

American League MVP Jose Abreu will remain away from the Chicago White Sox for the “next several days” because of a positive COVID-19 test, general manager Rick Hahn announced Wednesday.

The move, Hahn said in a statement, is in compliance with Major League Baseball intake protocols.

“Jose, who is completely asymptomatic, believes he contracted a mild case of the disease in January, which is reinforced by the presence of COVID antibodies in additional testing,” Hahn said in a statement.

“Other than being frustrated, Jose feels great and, like the rest of us, is looking forward to when he rejoins the club in the not too distant future.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci cautiously optimistic about return of fans for 2021 MLB season

Dr. Anthony Fauci is cautiously optimistic about the prospect of fans returning to the stands for the 2021 MLB season, telling ESPN’s Buster Olney there’s a “pretty good chance” of it happening if the rate of COVID-19 infections continues to drop.

“We could have a pretty good chance of having a baseball season that’s a full season,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight Podcast. “That we could have people in the stands, maybe not right next to each other; there are going to be public health restrictions like mask wearing and things like that.”

Fauci cautioned that fan attendance would be dependent on current trends holding and that the full impact of certain coronavirus variants remains to be seen.

Cy Young winner Shane Bieber quarantined from Indians spring training after contracting COVID-19

The Cleveland Indians are starting spring training without their ace and reigning Cy Young winner Shane Bieber after he contracted COVID-19.

Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti announced the news on Thursday, a day after pitchers and catchers reported to the team’s Goodyear, Arizona spring training facility. Antonetti expects Bieber to join the team soon.

Bieber expected to join team ‘within the next few days’

“He has very, very mild symptoms,” Antonetti told reporters. “In fact, they were barely noticeable, and — like I said — he’s working through the protocols to return. We expect him to get back to the complex at some point within the next few days.”

MLB’s 2021 new COVID-19 protocols are stricter – and could result in potential fines, suspensions

The protocols, according to a copy obtained by USA TODAY Sports, require players to self-quarantine at home for five days before reporting to spring training, with teams not permitted to have more than 75 players and personnel at their facilities. There will be 26-man rosters that can be expanded to 28 on Sept. 1, including a five-man taxi squad.

Once in camp, they will not be permitted to dine at indoor restaurants, go into bars or clubs, or attend indoor gatherings with more than 10 people. This includes everything from fitness centers, movie theaters and bowling alleys. Players and team personnel also are restricted from leaving the team hotel on the road except for team activities, picking up outdoor/curbside food, golf, outdoor walks and exercise.

Players also are prohibited from having guests, or even family members, inside their rooms at their team hotels. They will be permitted only to meet outdoors with family or household members or in a semi-private outdoor space at the hotel. They also are not permitted to dine in the hotel restaurant or bar.

They also are required to wear a Kinexon contract tracing device, like the NBA and NFL, permitting clubs to conduct contract tracing if a player or personnel member tests positive, while also monitoring social distancing. Players will also be subject to temperature checks and daily symptom screens will be conducted twice a day for the entire season and monthly antibody tests.

Cubs to play in front of 25% capacity at Sloan Park in spring training

It has been about 11 months since Cubs fans could watch their team in person from the stands, but they’ll get that chance again soon.

The city of Mesa, Maricopa County and the state of Arizona have given the Cubs the green light to have fans up to 25% capacity at Sloan Park for spring training games. The Cubs are hoping to put 3,500 or more fans in Sloan Park, whose 15,000-person capacity is the biggest of any team in spring training in Arizona or Florida.

COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be in place, with masks being mandatory and seating scattered in pods of two to six people sitting together. Fans will only be allowed to unmask if they’re eating or drinking in their specific seat location.

“We will have different locations and protocols regarding the selling of concessions this season,” Cubs general manager of spring training operations Justin Piper said. “Staying within guidelines for CDC protocol protection and enjoyment of the game will be our goal for our fans this spring. We submitted a plan to the governor, and it was approved with these important guidelines in place.”

Yahoo Sports Report: Biden administration officials pitch MLB on delaying season 1 month for vaccinations

Senior officials of the Biden administration spoke with MLB last week about a one-month delay for the season while getting players vaccinated in time for opening day, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

Rather than join the meeting, the MLB Players Association reportedly opted to schedule its own discussion with the same officials at a later date, out of concern it would be pressured to agree to the delay. The union will hear the same pitch.

Administration officials reportedly told MLB they were confident in their ability to vaccinate players in time for the delayed season due to the expected introduction of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is expected to be filed for FDA approval within a week.

Rosenthal reports that the delay will not take place, barring the COVID-19 situation changing.