Baseball is having major problems with testing for COVID-19, and it could put MLB's restart plans at risk
- MLB teams have been forced to postpone workouts as a result of delayed COVID-19 testing results.
- Players must return negative tests before returning to the diamond to practice with their teammates, but inefficient testing policies have disrupted plans.
- The Oakland A's, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, and other teams are reportedly facing issues with testing.
- The 2020 season is supposed to begin on July 23, but continued testing snafus and subsequent delays could put that in jeopardy.
Just one week into Major League Baseball's "Summer Camp" — this year's version of spring training — some teams have been forced to postpone workouts as a result of unexpected challenges with COVID-19 testing.
According to the health and safety protocols outlined by the league, all players must return negative COVID-19 tests before returning to the diamond to practice with their teammates. The process of returning a negative test, however, is not so simple.
Aside from the logistical issues that could come with organizing sample collection for an entire team, individual franchises need to coordinate with MLB and CDT — the company responsible for collecting the samples — to transport completed tests to the league's lab in Utah. So far, that process has proved more difficult than either side likely anticipated.
Despite MLB's promise to return test results in a 24- to 48-hour span, multiple teams have reportedly faced issues with completing the entire testing process.
According to Mercury News' Shayna Rubin, completed COVID-19 tests from the Oakland Athletics' players and staff members waited for more than two days before they were shipped to Utah. The league had not factored in potential delays due to the Fourth of July holiday while planning the transport. As of Sunday evening, the tests still had not departed from California.
As a result, Oakland was forced to postpone its first full-squad workout since March — including the return of position players — by another day. And according to Alex Coffey of The Athletic, A's general manager Dave Forst is "frustrated" and "livid" given the situation and the lack of communication from the league.
"On top of screwing up the logistics of this whole thing, neither MLB nor CDT communicated any of this to us until we pressed them for information, at which point all they could do was apologize, which frankly doesn't really do much for us," Forst messaged his team on WhatsApp, according to The Athletic. "Despite having our schedule a week ahead of time, they didn't alert us to the possibility of any complications around July 4, and once there were issues, they did nothing to communicate that to us or remedy the situation... If possible, I'm as frustrated and pissed as you are."
Like the A's, the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, and other teams have been forced to cancel workouts as a result of testing snafus
Oakland was far from the only team impacted by issues with the league-issued testing arrangements. The Astros were also forced to cancel their Monday workout after waiting more than 72 hours to receive their team's initial COVID-19 test results. The Nationals faced the same problem.
The Angels, meanwhile, were forced to delay their Monday morning workout after testers failed to show up at either Angel Stadium or Blair Field — the team's alternate training location — on Sunday. Players were left with no choice but to administer their own COVID-19 tests, per the Los Angeles Times.
On Sunday, Washington pitcher Sean Doolittle told the press that he completed a second test for the novel coronavirus despite not having received results for the original test he took 48 hours prior.
"Yeah, as I sit here talking to you guys, I still don't have my test results from Friday's test," Doolittle said, per Yahoo Sports. "So, like, I got tested again this morning without knowing the results of my test from Friday. So, we gotta clean that up. Right? So that's one thing that makes me a little nervous."
On Monday morning, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo released a statement in which he said the entire team had waited a full 72 hours and still had not received their test results.
"We cannot have our players and staff work at risk," Rizzo said. "We will not sacrifice the health and safety of our players, staff, and their families. Without accurate and timely testing, it is simply not safe for us to continue with Summer Camp."
"Major League Baseball needs to work quickly to resolve issues with their process and their lab," he added. "Otherwise, Summer Camp and the 2020 Season are at risk."
The league-wide struggle to complete efficient COVID-19 testing could put the upcoming season in jeopardy
Health experts have been adamant that frequent and consistent COVID-19 testing is the only way professional sports leagues can safely return to action amidst the pandemic. As a result, MLB committed to administering symptom screens and temperature checks twice per day, according to the Los Angeles Times. The league has also arranged to issue COVID-19 tests to players every other day during the regular season, which is set to begin on July 23.
Although it's still the early days of baseball's restart plan, MLB has dropped the ball on its testing protocol. This week's testing challenges — plus the league's seeming inability to quickly and adequately rectify the issues its teams have faced — are not an encouraging sign that MLB will be able to uphold its promise of regular COVID-19 testing for all 30 teams throughout the season.
This uncertainty could very well dissuade players across the league from participating in the 2020 season. A handful of players — including stars like Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price and Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman — have already opted out rejoining their teams for the year.
Doolittle said Sunday that "there were a lot of guys that were on the fence that decided to try to play to see how this was going to go." So far, the results have not been particularly reassuring, which could result in a lack of confidence in the health and safety measures the league is taking and, ultimately, even more players choosing to sit out the season.
"There's a lot of players right now that are trying to make decisions that might be participating in camp that aren't 100 percent comfortable with where things are at right now," Doolittle said earlier, per Yahoo Sports. "That's kind of where I am. I think I'm planning on playing. But, if at any point I start to feel unsafe, if it starts to take a toll on my mental health, with all these things we have to worry about, and just kind of this cloud of uncertainty hanging over everything, then I'll opt out."
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