The Miami Marlins have become the epicenter of COVID-19 in Major League Baseball.
On Sunday, news broke that the Miami Marlins had been hit hard by the pandemic. Three of their players – Jose Urena, Garrett Cooper, and Harold Ramirez – had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to their game against the Phillies. Urena was the scheduled starter that day, as the Marlins were forced to go into their bench and depth to disastrous effect.
That was just the tip of the iceberg. Eight additional players, and two coaches, have now tested positive, with additional testing still ongoing.
Eight more players and two coaches with the Miami Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19, as an outbreak has spread throughout their clubhouse and brought the total of cases in recent days to at least 14, sources familiar with the situation tell me and @JesseRogersESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2020
Understandably, the Marlins have yet to leave Philadelphia given the situation. Likewise, their game against the Orioles, which was slated to be played in Miami on Monday, was canceled.
It is also interesting to note that the Marlins have been following safety protocols set forth by Major League Baseball. According to Craig Mish, all the players had felt safe, with no one violating those procedures. The Marlins had been doing exactly what was requested.
But even that was not enough. As they wait for additional results to come back, the Marlins already have 12 players with positive tests. It is significant to note that not all of those players are asymptomatic either, further complicating issues for the Marlins as the entire team, and coaching staff, had been in contact with those players.
This now leads to a possible domino effect for the rest of the league. Cooper and Ramirez had played two games against the Phillies before their positive tests; the new positive tests had up to three games. The outbreak on the Marlins could easily spread to the Phillies as well.
Then there are the Yankees. New York had been scheduled to face the Phillies in a series of their own, using the same locker room that held at least 14 players and coaches that tested positive. The Yankees cannot feel safe being in that space, and not enough time has passed for that area to be properly sterilized.
And then there are the Marlins. Everyone will need to be quarantined for the next few days after coming in contact with people that had tested positive. Does this mean that the 30 players at the alternative training site are now to be activated so that Miami has some semblance of a team? Or will those games be canceled indefinitely until the league knows exactly how bad this situation is?
The Miami Marlins have become the worst case scenario for Major League Baseball. Canceling their game against the Orioles is a start, but the long term ramifications for those 14 positive tests need to be determined as the league looks to move forward.