Mets, Nationals already victimized by COVID-19 this season

The 2021 season did not even get underway before COVID-19 made its presence felt, particularly for the Mets and Nationals.

Just hours before the first pitch, Major League Baseball announced that the Mets game against the Nationals on Thursday has been postponed.

COVID rears its head with the Mets-Nationals game

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had stated on Wednesday that five players and a staff member would be unavailable after a member of the team tested positive for COVID. The idea that the Opening Day contest may need to be pushed back was not outside the realm of possibility at that point.

While it was possible that the game would be moved to Friday, a natural off-day in the schedule to accommodate for weather cancellations, that will not be the case either. Although that would give Washington enough time to get reinforcements onto their roster to field a full team, Major League Baseball nixed that idea out of “an abundance of caution.”

This is not the first time COVID had reared its head this season. Red Sox closer Matt Barnes had tested positive, leading to the possibility that several players would need to be quarantined, but that turned out to be a false result.

At this point, we do not know which members of the Nationals are affected. While it is difficult for any team to replace five players at once on the major league roster, it could be particularly devastating should this impact key members of their lineup. For all the moves that Washington made this offseason, their depth is still questionable.

Hopefully, the Mets and Nationals will begin their season on Saturday. However, due to a COVID outbreak, the start of their seasons will be pushed back.