Zach Plesac shows flaws in players policing themselves

With one evening out, Cleveland Indians pitcher Zach Plesac showed the potentially fatal flaw in Major League Baseball’s 2020 season.

One has to wonder what Zach Plesac was thinking, if he was even thinking at all. After a win on Saturday, Plesac left his hotel that night, and went to a bar to celebrate. This happened despite the lessons of the Marlins and the Cardinals, where everyone has watched those franchises deal with the ravages of the pandemic.

Once the Cleveland Indians found out what happened, they acted quickly. Plesac was sent packing, in a rental car, to get him away from the rest of the team. He will be quarantined for at least three days, and subject to daily testing to make certain that he did not contract the virus.

From a strictly Indians perspective, this could be much ado about nothing. If Plesac does not test positive, he could be back in time to make his next start. However, Cleveland could play with his service time and option him until August 22, when they need a fifth starter again. Doing so would likely take him out of Super Two status, saving the team some money.

But there are considerations beyond the Indians. Plesac’s actions show how fragile the year is for every team. All it can take is for one player to ignore the protocols in place and head outside of the hotel for everything to come crashing down, especially if no one realizes that player had gone on a constitutional until it was too late.

While the Indians have been proactive in dealing with Plesac, this is still a warning, and possibly yet another wakeup call, to the league. The Marlins had to replace over half of their active roster. The Cardinals will not play for nearly two weeks, provided their double header on Thursday actually takes place. That should be enough of a warning.

Instead, this is a warning to the league itself. Plesac showed the difficulty in the notion that one person can keep track of everyone on a team. Compliance officers and guidelines are great in theory, but as Plesac showed, the players still have to pay attention. Having the players police themselves may well be an exercise in futility.

The 2020 MLB season has been a tightrope act thus far. All it could take is for one player like Zach Plesac to ignore the protocols to produce another disaster.