NBA COVID-19 test results a good sign for MLB
By Manny Gómez
On Friday, MLB received a bit of good news via the NBA COVID-19 test results.
For the most part, I have been feeling mostly pessimistic about MLB being able to complete a season this year. Then, on Friday we received what I would consider good news via the NBA COVID-19 test results.
According to a statement released by the league and the NBPA,16 of 302 players tested positive for the coronavirus. That amounts to 5.2% of players in the NBA.
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Among those who tested positive were Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Malcolm Brogdon of the Indiana Pacers, and Sacramento Kings players Buddy Hield, Alex Len, and Jabari Parker. According to the statement, those players will be required to remain in self-isolation and will need to be clear by a physician before being able to proceed.
When you consider that all sports have been out of commission and players left to their own volition since mid-March, that only 16 players tested positive for the virus is extremely promising.
With MLB allowing each team to have a 60-man player pool, in total, baseball will be responsible for 1800 players. If the same percentage that the NBA saw test positive for coronavirus holds true for MLB, then baseball should expect to see approximately 94 players test positive before the season kicks off.
That amounts to about three players per team.
Sure, three players can negatively impact a season for an MLB team, especially an abbreviated 60-game season. But if baseball can get ahead of it, like the NBA did, then it should definitely be easier to control increased cases during the regular season.
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I know, I know… I’m just a baseball fan looking for any silver lining, but I really expected the percentages to be higher. Tomorrow, I’ll probably return to my pessimistic ways and find reasons for why the season will end before it even starts. But for now, after months of quarantine, I’d like to enjoy this bit of optimism for a while.